r — ^ 


595 


S91 


opy 1 















?>^1»^>^ 



^3 _ !>• > '^ 









:.:<^^ _ 3, ) ^> \-> y, J) ,:> ,» 

*-* > . .^ 3» >> _> :» » 



>3^ 









v^ 



► »> ^ 









LIBRARY OF^ONGRESS. | 

(ilp|il5^:5ei3pt|n9^t 1?0. - j 

Slielf->.S.?L- i 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 









>3 






'3>>;2» > 



,^ ? > > ^:> 















> > > :: 









^>:)>3>) 



Win 



l^-.^.>.^-, 






-^ 3) i)> ^ 







=r :>'s> > j> » ^^ ^ -. 

> ■ ;s» :>5.->. . :> • . ■ 






► .>>:ji> > > >■ • 

> > > > 






3:> 









-^ > -^ • -^ 

■ :> ;» ;» 
























-5 5:): 









'' ^? ■?> ^ ^> >:•' ^::2> 



Price, 50 Cents. 





Whitewood Falls, Black Hills. 
Rkached via Uniox Pacific Railroad and Sidney Stage Line. 



TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND, 



OR A SUMMER ON THE 



Union Pacific Railroad and Branches 



SAUNTERINGS IN THE POPULAR HEALTH, PLEASURE, AND 
HUNTING RESORTS OF 



NEBRASKA, DAKOTA, WYOMING, COLORADO, UTAH, IDAHO, 
OREGON, WASHINGTON AND MONTANA., 

WITH COMPLETE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE 



BL.AGK HILLS, BIG HORN, LEADVILLE AND SAN JUAN REGIONG, AKD 

SPECIAL ARTICLES ON STOCK RAISING, FARMING, MIN- 

INO, LUMBERING AND KINDRED INDUSTRIES 

OF THE TRANS-MISSOURI REGION. 



By ROBERT E. STRAHORN ("Alter Ego'')> 

OF THE WESTERN PRESS. 



SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLAi^^^rw ^ i r'iO"" 




?^- 



C. 



I ) /. 



OMAHA: 
THE NEW WEST PUBLISHING COMPANY. 

Omaha Republican Print. 

1879. 



INTRODUCTION 

TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

Siuce the first appearance of "To The Rockies and Beyond" iu 1878, de- 
velopments in the wide field outlined in its pages have bordered upon the 
marvelous. The name Leadville has thrilled all America and claimed at- 
tention from lands beyond the seas, while our far Northwest, where Orient 
now greets Occident, beams with a life uuthought of twelve months ago. 
CoLjORADO, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington arc the grand 
magnets upon our far western area to-day. Their unparalleled progress dur- 
ing the past year, and the constantly growing, earnest demand for intelligence 
concerning them is sufficient excuse for the enlargement and revision of this 
work. Nearly 100 fresh pages are added, special attention being called to 
those devoted to Leadville, Montana, and the Snake and Salmon River Regions. 

Reiterating a cherished desire to pleasantly introduce all classes of read- 
ers to the great region lying beyond the Missouri, to reliably point out the 
way for tens of thous ands of inquiring horaeseekers and tourists and to con- 
vey an idea of the glories of far west climate and scenery or the delightful 
experiences of mountaineering, the writer also wishes each voyageur as rich a 
fruition of pleasure in journeyings toward sunset as he himself enjoyed in 
his second "Summer on the Union Pacific Railroad and Branches." 



F-"7 






Copyrighted 1879. 
By ROBERT E. STRAHORN. 



>• 

cc 

2 

O 

> 



« 




■d 

a 

o 




CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Omaha and the Platte Valley— Marvelous Growth of Nebraska — The Land ol Cheap 
Homes "for the Million " — Hunting Along the Line of the Union Pacific — The Nation's 
Pasture Lands — Raising Cattle at the Simple Expense of Herding and Branding — How 
the " Cattle Kings " Malie their Thirty per Cent per Annum 5 

CHAPTER II. 
Wyoming and the Black Hills — The "Wealth and Wonders of an Average Western 
Commonwealth — The Thriving City of Cheyenne — A Jaunt to the Northern Eldorado — 
The Mines, Farming Lands, Forests and Cities of the Black Hills— 14, 000, 000 in Gold in 
1878 from Black Hills Bonanzas — Routes, Distances, Expenses of Living, Wages, etc. — 
The Big Horn Region; Its Mountains, Rivers, Hunting Grounds and Mineral Prospects. 14 

CHAPTER III. 
Into the American Switzerland" — Wealth and Development in Colorado — The Giant 
Young Railway Leading Thither — Hunting and Fishing Along the Cache la Poudre — 
Estes Park and Long's Peak — Boulder; its Thrift, its Rich Mines and Beautiful Scenery 
— Golden and Clear Creek Canon — Among the Colorado Gold Mines — Over to the Silver 
A'elns of Georgetown — Middle Park — Denver, Southern Colorado and the San Juan 
Region — New Mexico 34 

CHAPTER IV. 

Westward to Utah — Laramie Plains and Nortli Park — Mining, Wool Growing, Dairyinji 
and Lumbering — The Great Laramie Soda Beds and Marble Deposits — A Week's Hunt 
in North Park — Rawlins and Snake River Valley — The Ferris and Seminole Mines — 
Rock Springs Coal Mines — Green River City and the Wind River Country — Evanston — 
Lumbering and •'Ranching" Along Bear River — Fuel for the Trans-Missouri Region — 
Weber and Echo Caaons 72 

CHAPTER V. 

Utah Territory' — Salt Lake City and the Great Dead Sea — Among the Little Cottonwood 
and Bingham Cafion Mines — Through American Fork Canon — Utah Lake and its Beau- 
tiful Valley — Southern Utah, Nevada and Arizona — The Natural Route to the Gre;it 
Southwest — To Great Salt Lake and the Stockton Mines — Salt Water Bathing in tin-. 
Heart of 1 he Rockies — America's Greatest Salt Mine and its Utilization 90 

CHAPTER VI. 
Northern Utah, Idaho and Oregon — The Most Important Narrow Gauge Railway in 
the West, and the Region it Penetrates — Utah and Idaho Hot Spi-ings — A Placer Mine 
Occupying 400 Miles of Snake River Bars — The Salmon River Region and Idaho Salt 
Works — Extent, Resources and Climate of Idaho, Oregon and Wasliington Territories . 117 

CHAPTER VII. 
Montana Territory^ — Pacts and Experiences on the Farming, Stock Raising, Mining', 
Lumbering, and Other Industries — Interesting Notes on Climate, Scenery, Game, Fisli, 
and Mineral Springs — Routes, Distances, Rates of Fare, Expenses of Living, Wages, 
Means of Acquiring Homes and Other Information Applicable to Wants of Capitalists, 
Homeseekers, or Tourists — Montana Clearly the Empire of the Great Northwest 136 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Yellowstone National Park. — The Geysers, Lakes, Cations, Falls, Springs and other 
Wonders of the Nation's Pleasure Ground — Game and Fish — The Romantic Madison 
Valley or Henry Lake Route and Distances on the trails and roads in the Park — Some 
Points about Outlitting — Aboard the Palace Car in the morning, and Trout and Tea in 
sight of "Old Faithful" at night "iOl 

APPENDIX TO SECOND EDITION. 
Leadville the Bonanza Camp — History, Extent and Wealth of the Carbonate Belt — 
Marvelous Growth, Real Estate and Rents — The "Tenderfoot" of yesterday, the Mil- 
lionaire of to-day — Employment and Wages, Societies, Churches, Schools, Etc. — Ex- 
penses of Living and Routes 214 



TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 



CHAPTER I. 

WEST FROM THE MISSOURI— THE GREAT PLATTE VALLEY AND 
THE NATION'S PASTURE LANDS. 

'To the Rockies and beyond! " was our final exclamation. It didn't strike 
right and left like a bolt in llie clouds, because we had read and talked the 
matter over carefully in our quiet prairie home for months. We had taken 
pains to learn that this was a royal country — this western half of our continent 
— full of wonders and wealth, and we were just at that stage so intensely 
chronic in America which impelled us to go somewhere. We — my friends and 
I — had no money to fritter away in aimless travel. "Going west" meant a 
world of things to us besides our own gratification, because upon our experience 
depended the founding of homes and the investment of others' dollars. 

To sum up, we determined that this should be the great instnactive and 
enjoyable era of our busy lives. AVe wanted to see the broadest and richest 
areas of western farmlands, the vast winter and summer grazing regions, the 
world's finest hunting grounds. We would dive into the mysteries of the deep- 
est gold and silver mines, explore the most wonderful coal measures and 
"rough it" in the wildest forests. We would never think of "going west" 
without passing over the mightiest mountains, through the grandest canons, 
and along the largest lakes and rivers. Neither could we deny ourselves the 
supreme pleasures of breathing the most invigorating atmosphere, plunging 
into the famous hot springs, or imbibing the delicious and health-giving min- 
eral waters. Of course the largest and most beautiful cities, as well as the live- 
liest mining camps must be in our pathway, for there is where the buoyant, 
sinewy and thriving west beams out in greatest business venture and crystal- 
lizes into finest social culture. 

All this in one short summer! 

Our demands would have been less extravagant a few years ago, but in this 
era of railways wc stood sweltering at our rendezvous on the heated pavements 
of Chicago, took a forty-eight hour stretch of imagination and were whiffing 
ice-tempered breezes at the base of the Rocky Mountains ! Three of the finest 
railways in America were ready at Chicago to take us "neck and neck " to the 
Missouri river at Omaha. Never hesitate about deciding which you will take, 
reader; "go it blind " on either and you will find railroad travel over the broad 
prairie states a luxury. 

We made Omaha our final starting point on the great sea of plain because, 
in looking over our programme, we found there was but one route which cov- 
ere^l all the ground, and that we soon learned to call " The Highway of Conti- 



6 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

nents' ' — the Union Pacific Railway. While whirUng over the plains and through 
the mountains in its luxuriant palace cars we could watch the tide of commerce 
of the world. The wealth of European and Asiatic countries, of Pacific's distant 
isles and of our own grand America, could be seen concentrated and pouring 
over these iron lines. Here and nowhere else could we follow "That western 
trail of immigration which bursts into states and empires as it moves." 

At Omaha was found enough to engross any visitor's attention and interest 
for a week, but a few hours had to suffice us. It is a fitting entry to the bound- 
less west — a splendid western city, where the tourist from the east gets his first 
refreshing glimpses of the vim and "snap," born of lively growth and com- 
petition, which he will encounter everywhere toward sunset. There are dozens of 
neble monuments to this invincible enterprise visible, to say nothing of the 
thousands of smaller and less noticeable ones which we know are contributing 
their share to make Omaha what rivals already yield her to be — the metropolis 
of the northwestern states and territories. Crossing the Missouri on one of the 
finest iron bridges in the world, we noticed, down to the right, the great smelt- 
ing works, which turn out more of the precious metals than aU other similar 
works in the United States combined, save one. Their product was something 
like $5,000,000 in 1877, and the beautiful bars of silver and gold there on exhi- 
bition add keen zest to promises of underground explorations among the glitter- 
ing mineral veins. A little farther up the river bank, covering thirty acres of 
ground, are the extensive Union Pacific Railway shops, which give employment 
to nearly a regiment of lusty mechanics, and turn out anything in the line of 
railroad equipment, from the smallest bolt to the handsomest passenger car. 
Just at the end of the bridge, on the left, is a large and lively distilling estab- 
lishment, which, for the privilege of turning out immense quantities of the "old 
rehable" beverage, pays a tax of over half a million dollars a year. Crowning 
the wooded and picturesque bluffs in plain sight ahead and commanding wide 
view of river and valley, are the splendid school houses — one of these costing 
$250,000 — and many of the most elegant residences. Then, under the shelter of the 
bluffs, but still high above the river, are the long rows of solid business blocks, 
the fine public buildings and the dozen or more church spires. The post-office 
and custom-house combined, the Grand Central Hotel, Union Pacific headquar- 
ters and many other buildings are noticeable for their size and beauty of archi- 
tecture. The Union Pacific building is pronounced one of the finest railway 
headquarter offices in the world, and the Grand Central Hotel — well, it is the 
largest and most elegant between Chicago and San Francisco, and almost won 
us to a longer sojourn by its faultless appointments. 

Nine railways practically terminate at Omaha, rendering her the center of a 
railway system which could hardly be excelled, and bringing the trade and 
travel of wide and productive scopes of country, north, south, east and west. 
Then there is the cheap steam transportation afforded by the Missouri river and 
her tributaries, by which over three thousand miles of water line along Ne- 
braska, Iowa, Dakota and Montana are made to contribute to the general pros- 
perity. The additional United States branch mint, which is to be located in the 
near future, will undoubtedly go to Omaha if unexcelled natural auxiliaries to 
its successful operation are the requisites. Many unanswerable arguments are 
submitted upon this question, but we can only notice one in addition to the 
above facts showing how wonderfully the city holds the key to the wealth of 



THE GREAT PLATTE VALLEY. T 

half a dozen states and territories. This item is simply that Omaha has always 
been the gateway through which two-thirds of the entire mineral yield of the 
United States has passed. Base bullion and ore of the value of $10,000,000 
was shipped hither from the western mines as freight over the Union Pacific 
Railway in 1877, while gold and silver bullion and coin to the amount of over 
$50,000,000 reached this point by Union Pacific Express during the same 
period. It therefore appears that Omaha handled $60,000,000 of the total 
amount of $98,000,000 of gold and silver produced in the United States in 
1877. We could see nothing accidental about this. "We had entered the great 
central belt of wealth, industry and population; the greatest of all railways 
had appropriated the field, and by making this its outlet had laid the founda- 
tion for enterprises which, even in this fast age, are scarcely foreshadowed. 

To indicate the scope of business at Omaha we may add that 2,000,000 bush- 
els of grain and 95,500 head of cattle were received during 1877. Over $38,- 
000,000 of exchange were sold by the banks during the same period, and $800,- 
000 were invested in improvements , For fear some reader may think us a little 
extravagant in our statement that we could watch the commerce of nations 
pouring through this outlet over the Union Pacific Railway, we will mention 
the simple items of silk and tea shipments from China and Japan. We could 
see train loads of tea arrive here from the "Flowery Kingdom," via the Pacific 
Ocean and San Francisco, and importations of silk by the car load. Nearly 
1,000 cars of tea were received during 1877, direct from celestial "first hands." 

Up the Platte Vallei/. -^E&ger for the start and yet unsatisfied with such a, 
mere gUmpse of Omaha, we took quarters in the luxuriant palace cars of the- 
Union Pacific and sped westward. The train was long, well filled, and rolled 
over the bands of steel with the power and seeming pride of a very monarch of 
pioneers. Getting acquainted with fellow passengers we found here an anxious 
home-seeker, tired of the worn-out soils, enervating atmosphere and "barren 
opportunities" of his crowded native state, and determined on planting himself 
anew in the broader, more attractive fields of the bright young west; there a> 
pale and nervous health- seeker, full of doubt and hope combined, who evidently 
needed Colorado sunshine and the mountain air; yonder a Wyoming cattle 
dealer, satisfied with the world and himself, because he had made his pile on the- 
steer of the period ; and then here an ex-surveyor-general of Nebraska, whose 
judgment on western resources is said to be next to faultless and who was taking- 
large quartz mills into the Black Hills, where he declares there are millions of 
wealth in sight. We also had on board a representative of the government on 
his way to China — for, be it remembered, this was the "Highway of Nations"; 
Californians returning to their beautiful "Golden Gate"; pleasure- seekers going^ 
to lead aimless lives at the fashionable Colorado watering places, or, mayhap, 
intending to do some real genuine "roughing" among the mountains and in 
the forests, and, among the dozens of others, army officers on their way to the 
frontier to do their thankless duty of making the original owners of the country 
believe they don't own anything. * 

Nebraska and the Platte Valley have been wonderfully " written up" since 
the advent of railroads, and we make no extensive notes where the ground has 
already been so thoroughly reviewed. Passing along, however, we obtained 
some facts concerning resources and recent progress. Eleven years ago these beau- 
tiful valley landscapes — in which thousands of productive farms, fine farm- 



8 TO THE llOCKIES AND BKYOND. 

houses, blossoming orchards and thriving cities are now such grateful features 
— were smooth meadows and prairie uplands, with only here and there the stage 
station in sight. The change has been so rapid that the eleven years seemed 
stretched to fifty. In the whole of Nebraska there were only 59,000 people. 
The grand stimulus — the Union Pacific Eailway — together with wonderful fer- 
tility of soil and other matchless resources, have swelled this little division 
into an army of 300,000 strong. In 1870 the population was 123,000; in 
1873, 250,000, and from this up to the splendid body of producers of to-day. 
From the broad acres, which were scarcely "scratched" a dozen years ago, and 
where the Indian and buffalo were proud possessors, 12,000,000 bushels of wheat 
were produced in 1877, together with hundreds of tons of beef. It is estimated 
that this one great valley alone is capable of sustaining 3,000,000 of people. 
At this late day it is hardly necessary to tell of the fine crops of wheat, oats, 
corn, rye, barley and vegetables of every nature which are produced, or of the 
luscious fruits. Of the latter, one hundred different varieties from one county 
were on exhibition at Omaha for several weeks, and it is a matter of common 
knowledge that the American Poniological Society has awarded Nebraska the 
first premium over all states in the land for the largest and best display of fruits. 
Wheat yields as high as thirty bushels per acre and averages about twenty. No 
stumps or stones interfere with easy cultivation, grass grows luxuriantly enough 
for hay everywhere, if not molested, and the mowing machine will run for 
miles without encountering an obstruction. We could easily see that home- 
making here would be child's play compared with the,^same task in the back- 
woods or among the rocky uplands of the older states. Hundreds of thou- 
sands will yet find choice homesteads on the lands of the Union Pacific Rail- 
way, which border the track, and on tracts still held by the government. 
Lands can be obtained at prices ranging from $2 to $10 per acre, on long 
time, if desired, so that the frugal and industrious farmer, with a few hun- 
dred dollars to make needed improvements, can easily pay for his home from 
the products of the rich valley soil. Prospective settlers are assisted by the 
company in the way of cheap exploring tickets and colonists get the advantage 
of reduced freight rates. Very valuable information, covering this whole ground, 
is issued gratuitously to all by the Land Commissioner of the Union Pacific Rail- 
way, Omaha. 

Fine Hunihuj. — While speeding along the Platte, the stream which kept us 
pleasant company for many miles, we were hourly tempted to forsake our iron 
trail by the near sight of different kinds of game. On the broad bosom of the 
river legions of v/ild geese and other water fowl find their coveted abiding place, 
and the hu nter would be worse than novice who could not bag his dozens within 
sight of the track almost any day in spring or fall. The Elk Horn, Loup Fork, 
Wood river. Shell creek and other tributaries of the Platte in eastern and cen- 
tral Nebraska are little behind the parent stream in these strong attractions for 
the sportsman. Then, on the alternating grassy prairies and well-tilled fields, 
we frightened up lar*e flocks of prairie chickens, and as we crossed the beautiful 
Elkhorn river, twenty-eight miles from Omaha, were told that the wooded 
banks there are the resorts for hundreds of coveys of quail. The deer still ven- 
tures within a dozen miles of Omaha, among the timbered bluffs bordering the 
river, but to enjoy first-class shooting for such noble game we strike out among 
the timbered ravines along the Platte and Loup, all the way from fifty to three 



THE GllEAI PLATTE VALLEY. • 9 

hundred miles westward. Buffalo, elk and antelope can easily be reached from 
many different points in the Platte valley. We kindled smouldering embers of 
" buck fever" in the hearts of numerous passengers and proved our faulty aim 
by often firing at bands of the latter from the platform of our Pullman. 

For geese or chickens we learned that we should get off at North Bend, 
61 miles; Schuyler, 75 miles; Columbus, 91 miles; or Clark's, 120 miles from 
Omaha; not because we couldn't find them in great plenty at almost every 
station, but because hotel accommodations are better at those places. Jack- 
son, 99 miles; Kearney Junction, 195 miles; and North Platte, 291 miles 
from Omaha, are all favorite points of rendezvous for hunters of large 
game. Game is shipped by the wagon load from a number of the above 
places to Omaha and farther east. By camping out at Cozad, 245 miles 
from Omaha, our friends have found sport which will furnish a topic for 
winter-night talk for years to come. Buffalo, elk, antelope, deer, wild turkeys, 
geese, ducks and other wild fowl are here found in great abundance. South- 
ward from 50 to 75 miles are the great buffalo ranges of the Republican Valley, 
where some of the most noted American and European Nimrods are distinguish- 
ing themselves every season. Board at these points ranges in price from $1.50 
to $3 per day. Where camping out is necessary, team and guide, $4 to $6 
per day. 

THE GREAT WINTER GRAZING REGION. 

At Grand Island, one hundred and fifty-four miles west of Omaha, we 
fairly entered the great grazing belt of the continent — that which affords 
sure sustenance for stock and a fair degree of safety without shelter the 
year round. We soon saw large herds of sleek cattle feeding upori this natural 
pasturage on every hand, and often mingling with bands of antelope and other 
game. From this west to the Pacific ocean, north into the British Possessions 
and to the southernmost limit of the continent, cattle graze and fatten summer 
and winter, needing no more attention to assure their growth and safety than 
the buffalo. Nearly all readers must understand that the grasses west of here 
cure where they grow, retaining all their wonderfully nutritious elements, and 
that different herbs unknown in the east also afford a perfect winter diet. Fur- 
ther, that the snows ai-e light and diy, ever shifting before the prairie winds, 
and that sheltered and wooded valleys are conveniently interspersed, affording 
all the protection that cattle have ever seemed to need. It is readily seen, there- 
fore, that in all this vast territory must be thousands upon thousands of oppor- 
tunities for men to produce beef, after the nucleus for a herd is purchased, at 
the simple outlay of herding and branding. It is demonstrated by hundreds of 
reliable stockmen that the loss from all causes vsill not exceed two per cent of 
the entire herd per annum. 

Hotv the Business is Carried on. — This industry is one in which we have 
always felt the liveliest interest and one well worthy of elaboration here. A 
quite popular and profitable mode of handling cattle is that in which breeding 
is given little attention and buying and selling steers season after season takes 
the preference.* Two and three-year-old steers are purchased in Texas in the 

* Facts and figures here given and in relation to Wyoming are partially adapted from a 
previous work of the writer, " Wyoming^ Black Hills and Big Horn Regions:' 250 pages, Robt. 
E. Strahorn, publisher, Cheyenne, Wyoming. 



10 TO THE ROCKIES A.ND BEYOND. 

early summer at say $12 and $16 per head delivered on the line of the Union 
Pacific. With them are often purchased a few heifers and cows, which, upon 
being located on the range, are kept as a nucleus to assist in holding the strange 
animals bought each year within the limits of the range. A desirable ranch 
site is chosen, and as a rule the improvements made are much less expensive 
than those on regular breeding ranches. The cattle are kept upon these rich 
cured grasses during the winter, and during the summer following (one year 
from the date of their entry) the best three and four-year-olds ai-e sold to local 
dealers or are consigned to eastern commission men. These well-conditioned 
Texans sell at an average of $28 per head at any of the stations, leaving a profit 
of about $10 per head. The few not fit for sale are left with the nucleus already 
referred to and held over for another season. The profits are at once reinvested 
in the manner first described, and the buying, pasturing and selling thus con- 
tinued year after year. For parties who do not desire to continue in the indus- 
tiy more than a few years, this plan presents the strong inducement of not 
requiring so much preparation and expense in starting; while the rather 
" gypsy " fashion of conducting the enterprise admits of the settlement and 
termination of it without inconvenience at almost any time. 

However, the breeding of cattle on this vast free range is as sure and probably 
as short a road to wealth as is offered by any legitimate enterprise under the 
sun. Texas yearlings, either sex, can be bought at almost any railroad point 
here at $7.50 per head; two-year-olds, $12; cows, $13. A good ranch site, 
with necessaiy buildings and corrals, located within two days' drive of the rail- 
road, can be secured for $1,500. First-class herders (and others are dear at any 
price) can be readily obtained at an average of $32.50 per month and board. 
Very close calculations, made by several competent informers, make the total 
expenses of keepmg cattle each year, after the necessary permanent ranch im- 
provements have been made, as follows: In herds of 1,000, per head, $1.75; in 
herds of 5,000, $1.40; in herds of 10,000, $1. It is also reUably stated that such 
stock growers as J. W. Iliff, who graze over 25,000 head, figure their expenses 
down to Irom fifty to sixty cents per head per annum. Think of the average 
cattle man raising a steer and putting him on the market, a three-year-old, at a 
total expense of four dollars and fifty cents. Ten thousand dollars is considered 
a fair sum to start with in breeding cattle. We had access to the accounts of a 
thoroughly reliable breeder whose books exhibited an investment of $15,000, 
covering a period of only five years. He purchased 1,000 Texas cows and the 
necessary number of short-horn sires. Sales of steers were only made the last 
two years, and the amounts realized were not reinvested. The closing of the 
account revealed a profit of $68,000 for the five years' operations. This plan 
can only be appreciated and its grand possibilities realized by its being followed 
from five to ten years, and by the introduction of better blood into the herd. 

Early in the summer of each year the great " round-ups " occur. All herd- 
ers, and frequently owners of stock, gather together in certain localities, and, 
vdth the most experienced and skillful stockmen for leaders, inaugurate a short 
season of the herdsmen's wildest revelry. Mounted upon their best ponies, the 
herders swiftly scatter out across the range, gathering in every animal, and 
finally concentrating the property of perhaps a dozen prominent stock growers 
in one immense, excited herd. Passing near the ranches of respective owner?, 
the animals are halted in a convenient location, and part of the cow-boys hold 




Spearfish Falls, Black Hills. 
Reached via Union Pacific R. R. and Sidney Stage Line. 



12 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the mass while others ride through it, single out the " brand, " or animal, belong- 
ing to the adjacent range or ranch, and separate it from the main body of cattle 
until none of that dpscription are to be found. Moving along to the next man's 
range, the scene is lepeated, and so continued until the cattle are divided. Then 
young stock is branded, marketable stock sometimes disposed of, and the cattle 
are again allowed their freedom. Five or ten thousand head are thus frequently 
gathered together, and during the round-up season men " camp out," wagons 
following the herd with provisions, blankets, etc. 

Wonderful Profits. — A steady profit of twenty-five per cent per annum is 
really a common result. Forty and fifty per cent have been realized, but the 
writer who lays down such figures as an average is very liable to get his reputa- 
tion involved. It is not uncommon for experienced stockmen, who know how to 
utilize every advantage, and to guard against nearly all discouragements, to do 
business for a time on capital borrowed at two per cent per month, and to make 
a good margin on the investment. The writer has in mind a gentleman whose 
large herds roam in southern Wyoming, who for five years has made the very 
handsome profit of forty per cent per annum. He has been especially judicious 
in his purchases and sales, exercised great cai-e and judgment in the selection of 
a range, and in his system of ranch improvements, and has been so fortunate as 
to secure some of the best men on the plains to carry out the practical workings 
of his business. Constant supervision and study upon the part of the owner of 
stock is a grand point. 

Room for Tliousands. — The home and foreign market constantly grows 
stronger. The ratio of increase in population in America is far in excess of the 
increase in our supply of beef and mutton, and the exports of beef, mutton 
and live stock to Europe have increased in value from less than $2,000,000 in 
1876 to $14,000,000 in 1877. That this western country can produce the beef, 
mutton and wool for all America, as well as for millions in the old world, is be- 
coming an admitted fact, visionary as it would have seemed ten years ago. In 
this connection is a point generally overlooked. We should remember what 
myriads of graminivorous animals have fed upon these native grasses, and how 
slowly our herds are increasing in pi'oportion to their decrease. Millions of buf- 
falo, elk, antelope and deer have for centuries fattened on these same broad 
acres, and now, before the "march of empire," are steadily vanishing from the 
carpets of nutritious grasses. It is estimated by the most competent authority 
that over 15,000,000 buffalo alone have been killed on the western plains since 
1870, the slaughter having become so fearful that legislation is invoked to pre- 
vent it. Even this vast herd of buflfalo, which could make no perceptible im- 
pression on the boundless pasture lands, has not yet been half replaced by domes- 
tic flocks and herds. The numbers of cattle and sheep in the States and Terri- 
tories directly tributary to the Union Pacific Railway are placed as follows: 

SHEEP. CATTLE. 

Nebraska 125.000 375,000 

Colorado 800,000 450.000 

Wyommg 100,000 175,000 

Utah 350,000 290,000 

Montana 150,000 250,000 

Totals 1,525,000 1,540,000 



THE GREAT PLA.TTE VALLEY. " 13 

* 

While these figtires show the progress made under great discouragements in 
less than twenty years, and are very gratifying, they also open our eyes to the 
fact that the industry has but really commenced, that the field cannot be thor- 
oughly utilized for many years, and that until it is utilized golden opportunities 
are everywhere open for the investment of small or large capital. 

Julesburg and Cheyenne are the largest cattle shipping points, while Ogallala, 
Pine Bluffs, Sidney and North Platte, in Nebraska, are all noted for this line of 
business. There were about 1,000 car loads, or 20,000 head, shipped during 
1877 from each of the two points first named. The business has developed won- 
derfully in the past five years, shipments showing a steady and rapid increase. 
As already stated, the total cattle shipments for the year eastward, over the 
Union Pacific, were about 95,000 head. Of this number one dealer, J. W. Iliff, 
has marketed 15,000, receiving at an average $35 per head. Mr. Iliff is justly 
called the western "cattle king," for he owns over 50,000 head, and his range 
is 150 mUes long by half as many wide. There are many others who own from 
5,000 to 20,000 head of cattle, not one of which ever feeds a pound of grain or 
hay except to working stock. 

Verily, visions of perennial pastures, marketable steers and plethoric purses 
have followed us to the end of our journey — yea, untU we are prone to sell out 
the unproductive old possessions '"back east," go to the western prairies and pro- 
duce that for which the world pays its surest and greatest tribute — bread and 
beef. However, if we do all this, before we ever bridle the frisky Texas steer 
we will serve a twelvemonths' apprenticeship with some older hand. This busi- 
ness, like all others, requires careful study and will not run itself. 

Sidney — 414 mUes from Omaha, and near the western edge of Nebraska, has 
attained considerable importance as a point of outfitting and departure for the 
Black Hills gold fields. It is a lively, thriving place of about 1,000 inhabitants, 
possessing two of the best hotels in the state outside of Omaha, large outfitting 
and forwarding houses, and other necessary auxilaries to the Black Hills trade. 
One firm of freighters shipped two and a half million pounds of goods to the 
Hills in 1877, while smaller firms swelled the total to about 4,000,000 pounds. 
Deadwood is said to be 267 miles distant. The roads are first-class, lined with 
ranches and stopping places, and passing one military post. Camp Robinson, en 
route. Fare to Deadwood, .$30. Fine Concord coaches, carrying mails and 
express, leave daily, and land passengers at Deadwood in about fifty hours. 
Good antelope hunting can always be had within a few miles of Sidney. Among 
other aspirations of the town is its confidence in being made the southern ter- 
minus of the proposed Union Pacific and Black Hills Railway. Our trip to the 
northern Eldorado was by way of Cheyenne, and we necessarily make extended 
observations upon the region in pages following. Board in Sidney $2 and $4 
per day in the two leading hotels. 



14 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 



CHAPTER II. 

WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS — ROUTES TO THE NORTHERN 
ELDORADO — GOLD YIELD, ETC. 

Soon after leaving Sidney the railroad enters the young and thriving terri- 
tory of Wyoming. It covers an area of nearly 100,000 square miles, and, as we 
learn after thousands of miles of horseback travel -within its limits, possesses a 
variety of resources rarely centered within the boundaries of one commonwealth. 
Eorest and plain, mountain and valley, water-course and upland, unite to furnish 
the most accessible field for the speedy creation of a large and prosperous state. 
The grazing area proper aggregates 55,000 square miles, while much of the 
mountain surface, omitted in this estimate, is thickly carpeted during summer 
and faU with the most succulent and nutritious grasses. That portion suscepti- 
ble of cultivation comprises some 15,000 square miles of bottom and uplands. 
The timber area is very extensive, covering nearly one third of the territorj', and 
in coal Wyoming is the richest of all states or territories. In the 40,000 square 
miles of mountain area are vast deposits of gold and silver bearing ores, iron, 
copper, etc. 

Eastern readers may not readily realize the extent of all this latent wealth in 
an average western commonwealth, and we will indulge in a few comparisons. 
Wyoming's graeing area is greater than the entire area of Kentucky, a state 
which in 1870, owned nearly 2,000,000 head of sheep and cattle, besides over 
1,000,000 head of other Uve stock. The agricultural area here of virgin and fer- 
tile soil is greater than that of the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut com- 
bined, which, on their artificially fertihzed soil, produce an average of 5,000,000 
bushels of grain annually. Wyoming's forests cover more territory than those 
of the great lumbering state of Michigan, whose product in tliis line reaches a 
value of $40,000,000 per annum. And her surface underlaid with strata after 
strata of coal exceeds that of the coal lands of Pennsylvania, whose yield in coal 
reaches $50,000,000 or more annually. The population is estimated at only 28,- 
000, while the valuation is placed at about $11,000,000. There are three rail- 
ways, aggregating a length of over 500 mUes, and six telegraph lines, aggregat- 
ing a length of 1,500 miles. Development, in every field, has always been re- 
tarded by depredations of the savages. These have until recently occupied the 
finest section of the ten-itory; but now, through the well directed efforts of Gen- 
eral Crook and his brother officers and men, the citizens have better prospects 
for permanent peace. 

Wyoming is the huntsman's and angler's paradise. On her plains the buf- 
falo and antelope find an agreeable, all-the-year home; in her mountains the 
elk, deer mountain sheep, bear and mountain lion abound; and in her thousand 
crystal streams and lakes the gamiest and most delicate of all fish, the mountain 
trout, are always ready for the bait. Sage-hens, grouse and rabbits are found 
almost everywhere, while geese, ducks and wild fowl are native to nearly all the 
lakes and watercourses. The settler has no trouble in providing himself with 
the best wild meats the year round, and indeed often makes a good living by 



WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS. 15 

hunting game for local markets. From the moment the tourist enters the terri- 
tory until he departs, his bill of fare teems with these riches of forest, plain and 
river. Fur-bearing animals of almost every description are also taken by the 
hundreds of trappers who inhabit the frontier, and the number of beavers and 
wolves especially, which are annually trapped for their skins, is enormous. A 
day's ride from almost any station will take the Nimrod into hunting grounds 
of the best class. 

The territory affords a rich field for the scientist. The most wonderful petri- 
factions and fossils which are among public and private collections in the East 
have been found here. Such natural curiosities as the garnet, topaz, jasper, 
agate, chalcedony, and rare crystallizations, are found in different sections. Min- 
eral springs, fine scenery and sunny skies are not wanting to attract the health 
and pleasure seeker. The nation's own pleasure ground, the Yellowstone Na- 
tional Park, occupies the northwestern corner of the ter;itory, and is in itself an 
attraction which must in the near future entice many hither. Of its wonders we 
shall say more in future pages. 

Chei/enne.^51Q miles west of Omaha, at an altitude of 6,041 feet above the 
sea, is Wyoming's bustling metropolis and capital city, Cheyenne. So far Chey- 
enne is much in the lead of all rivals as an outlet and supply point for the vast 
northwest, and no territorial city hereabouts can approach her for real, down- 
right enterprise, sagacious business management, or spirit of permanency. Three 
railways center here — Union Pacific, Colorado Central and Denver Pacific — and 
the energetic business men are doing their utmost to secure the coveted northern 
road leading either to the Black Hills or Montana, or, by double termini, con- 
trolling the trade of both. Already the heavy wholesale houses here are secur- 
ing much of the northern and western trade which originally went to the cities 
of the East, and with their constantly enlarging facilities and liberal spirit this 
important index of prosperity still furnishes the brightest possible outlook. 

A feature always refreshing and pleasing to the new comer here is the won- 
derful thrift, bustle, and unfaltering courage which is everywhere apparent. 
From the peanut vender on the street corner to the wholesale merchant we traced 
this same nerve, which in the west is said to "laugh at impossibilities." Of 
course we caught the infection, and were soon ready to embark in any number 
of prodigious enterprises. Then here we received our first really unmistakable 
blast of the mining atmosphere, which comes down strong and fresh from the 
Black Hills. Bronzed and enthusiastic miners are constantly arriving with gUt- 
tering specimens from their "finds," while new seekers for treasure are bound 
northward on every coach, or are seen leaving by every other conceivable means 
of transportation. The bank windows and counters are always lined with tempt- 
ing displays of yellow nuggets, huge retorts of gold from the Black Hills sriamp 
mills, or fine dust from the rich gulches of that famous northland. Great trains 
of " prairie schooners " crowd around the forwarding houses, or are seen pulling 
out with stamp mills, other mining machinery, and miscellaneous supplies. 
Numerous Cheyenne citizens own stock in the mines, and quite a number have 
obtained property which pays very handsome dividends. 

Cheyenne has a population of 4,500, is becoming quite solidly built, and 
exhibits as fine residences, public buildings and improvements generally, as any 
city on the Union Pacific, west of Omaha. The taxable wealth is about $2,500,- 
000, and improvements for the past two years have cost $700,000. Indicating 



16 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the extent of business are the statements that over 80,000,000 pounds of freight 
were received here in ISi'G, and $,50,000 received during the same year at the 
railroad ticket office. The two banks sold exchange during 1877 to the amount 
of $4,350,000, and bought $1,200,000 worth of Black Hills gold dust. The three 
leading hotels registered 10,800 arrivals during 1877, and a dozen smaller houses 
probably did as much more. About 4,000,000 pounds of freight were forwarded 
from here to the Black Hills during the same year. During the six months end- 
ing June 30, 1877, the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage Line — which is a model 
of its kind — forwarded over 3,000 passengers and 6,000 express packages to the 
Hills. This company has nearly $200,000 invested in Concord coaches, fine 
stock, stage stations, etc. 

Hero the Colorado Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railway turns south- 
ward through the rich agricultural and mining districts of Colorado. Pullman 
palace cars run direct from Omaha to Denver, so that no trouble or delay is ex- 
perienced in reaching Colorado's capital. 

Hotels at Cheyenne — the Inter-Ocean, Railroad, and Dyer's — are not to be 
excelled in any city of twice the size. Rates are from $3 to $4 per day The 
city is prolific in smaller and very comfortable houses, however, where the 
economically inclined can board at from $6.50 to $10 per week. Livery is cheap 
— from $4 to $7 per day; saddle ponies, $2. Rents for five and six room cottages 
are $30 to $35 per month. Living expenses generally about 30 per cent higher 
than at points east of the Mississippi. Cheyenne has always been a good point 
for mechanics. Wages average about as follows: carpenters, $2.75 per day; 
bricklayers, $4; plasterers, $3; salesmen, $75 to $125 per month; laborers $25 
per month. and board. Those who desire to purchase their own teams for the 
transportation of supplies northward, can procure outfits to good advantage here, 
and supplies of every nature are always found in large stocks. The city has 
been a rendezvous for parties going to and returning from northern regions so 
long that its merchants have made a careful study of this branch. Following 
are prices of leading items which go to make up an outfit for the miner: 

Team of two hordes $100 to $350 

Team of two mules 20U " 300 

Oxen, per yoke 80 " 100 

Saddle horse 40 " 75 

Saddle mule 40 " 60 

Pack horse 40 " 60 

Pack mule 40" 50 

Two-horse wagon 100 " 125 

Four-horse wagon 125 " 150 

Tent 25" 40 

Breech-loading riilc 35 " 50 

Blankets, per pair 5 " 8 

Flour per sack, $3 00 to $4 50 

Bacon per lb., 15 " 16 

Syrup per gal., 75 " 125 

Coffee, Rio per lb., 26 " 30 

Sugar " 121^'- 15 

Tea. " 60 " 150 

Baking powders " 45 " 50 

Beans " 6 " 7 

Grain — corn per cwt., 190 "2 00 

oats " 2 50 " 2 60 



WYOMING AND THK BLACK HILLS. 17 

THE BLACK HILLS. 
Enough time has elapsed since the discovery of gold in the Black Hills to 
thoroughly establish two very important facts : First, that deposits of both gold 
and sUver of extraordinary richness and extent are there found; and, second, 
that the only really practicable routes to the Eldorado lead from the Union Pa- 
cific Railroad at the south. The road from Cheyenne passes northward through 
the best settled portions of Wyoming, where for years the finest herds have 
roamed, and where many occupied homesteads will compare favorably for the 
value and style of their improvements with those of any western state. The 
only line'of telegraph to Deadwood is from here, and as before stated, the daily 
stage line is simply perfect. Freighting has here been rendered a mammoth as 
well as systematic business. There are over twenty large and reliable firms, 
running 200 wagons, engaged in the business. Then, counting in smaller firms, 
we find a total of 400 wagons, giving employment to as many men, and being 
able to easily move 2,000,000 pounds of freight at one loading. Freight rates to 
Deadwood are from $3 to $5 per hundred pounds, the price first named being 
the lowest for ox-team freights, and the higher price being the average for fast 
horses and mule trains. Below is a table of distances over the Cheyenne route. 
The measurements were made by odometer by Captain Stanton, Chief Engineer 
Department of the Platte : 

From Cheyenne to Miles. 

Horse Creek 25.66 

Phillip's, Chugwater Creek 47.86 

Owen's, Chug Spring 66.13 

Fort Laramie 88.28 

Government Farm 103.22 

Raw Hide Butte 1 16.50 

Niobrara River 138.07 

Hat Creek 147.80 

Lance Creek 176.54 

Cheyenne River 196.62 

Beaver Creek 220.86 

Cold Spring -. 243.61 

Whitewood 263.79 

Deadwood Postpffice 266.19 

The highest altitude on the route is 6,509 fee:t. This observation is taken 
from an extreme summit in the Black Hills, a short distance from Spring 
Canon, and about 230 miles from Cheyenne. The altitude of Deadwood is 
4,640 feet. Fare, Cheyenne to Deadwood, $30. We found eating stations and 
comfortable frontier hotels strung thickly along the entire route, and obtained 
tip-top meals at from fifty cents to one dollar each. 

Pending the construction of the Black Hills branch of the Union Pacific 
Railway one must go by coach or private conveyance, and let us here remark that 
a forty-eight hour coach ride cannot be made more comfortably on any line in 
the country than on this one between Cheyenne and Deadwood. Fort Laramie, 
around which cluster thousands of interesting points of frontier history, is passed 
88 miles north of Cheyenne. A few miles further on the route crosses the North 
Platte by a splendid iron bndge. Niobrara River, Hat Creek, Lance Creek, 
Cheyenne River and Beaver Creek are all crossed in rapid succession. Fairly 
entering the hills at Jenny's Stockade, about 50 miles from Deadwood, the road 
passes through the most attractive portions, and at diiFerent points commands 
2 



18 TO THE ROCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

views of Inyan Kara, Terry's, Harney's, and other noted peaks. The prettiest 
parks — features in which the Black Hills excel — the most extensive valleys, and 
the best forests all border the line. Beaver Creek Valley and its surroundings 
are especially prolific in beautiful landscapes, and present fitting welcome to the 
traveler from the south who enters the gold region by this route. 

We entered Deadwood in September, when the narrow streets and muddy 
gulches were fairly bounding with the life and effort incident to preparations for 
the winter. Here was a mountain-crowded city of five or six thousand inhabitants, 
extending several miles up two narrow defiles, intruding upon other similar 
cities, and making as much fuss and bluster as eastern towns of a century's 
growth. There were log cabins and frame, in every conceivable attitude, tents 
on the hillsides, and solidly buUt business blocks along the narrow thoroughfares 
in the gulches, and the hills were fairly ringing with the clang of the hammer 
and saw on the dozens of new structures going up. Two large saw-mills were 
running night and day within the city limits, and the lumber was being put into 
buildings as fast as it left the saws. The improvements on the ground were esti- 
mated to have cost over one million dollars. The din of dozens of stamp mills 
reminded one of the old districts of Colorado, and the business done by over 
two hundred shops and mercantile houses was simply marvelous. Three daily 
newspapers, three banking houses, and some thirty hotels and eating houses 
were here crowded with business, where two years ago the amiable Sioux was 
reading his title clear and swearing he would have $80,000,000 for the country 
or die in the last ditch. Two or three variety theatres and one furnishing the 
legitimate drama were crowded nightly. The veteran actor, Jack Langrishe, 
was running the place of amusement last referred to. When business grew dull 
he wielded a graceful editorial quill on the Pioneer, and when it grew duller, hi 
winter, he went down into the gulch, boiled water to thaw out tlie frozen grounti, 
and made good " pay " from his claim. 

Readers can gain an idea of the wonderful business developed in so short a 
time here in the heart of the northern wilds from the statement that one bank 
was doing a busmess of from $25,000 to $75,000 per day in gold dust and tx- 
change, and a hotel had fed as many as 1,000 people inside of twenty-four houis. 
Single firms were selling goods to the amount of seven to ten thousand dollars 
per month. These, of course, were Deadwood's flush days, but the business lias 
really not lessened — it has only been divided among larger numbers of trai'es- 
men there and in the string of mining camps up and down the gulches. 

Adjoining Deadwood above are Gayville and Central City, where most o+ the 
richest quartz mines and many of the stamp mills are located. The^ towns 
swell the population some three or four thousand more, and are perfect li ives 
of mining industry. The din of mills is unceasing and at places almost deafen- 
ing, and hundreds of miners find employment in getting out the rich quarl z on 
the hillsides or in delving for the glittering treasure in the creek beds Im^ow. 
Then, dependent upon this great mining interest, are blocks upon blocks of little 
shops and stores, or more pretentious business houses, with an allopathic sprink- 
ling of saloons. 

Speaking of saloons leads us to think of the continual surprise aftorded 
us by the condition of society. Here, in the heart of an utter wilderness, 
but two years before the jealously guarded rendezvous of the most powerful 
and warlike tribes of Indians on the continent, were thousands of people. 



{Illllfillplll if" 




20 TO THE ROCKIES AJS'D BEYOXD. 

who had rushed in from every quarter, under every circumstance and with 
habits as varied as the leaves on the trees. There was a degree of frenzy 
and abandon about their coming that presaged anything but order, and formed 
fruitful subject for sensational writers everywhere — the latter prophesying all 
sorts of evils, and, indeed, often manufacturing accounts of them from whole 
cloth. But a common intei-est banded these hardy and generous spirits together. 
In nearly all camps an organization was eiiected and stringent regulations 
adopted as soon as claims were staked off. If a black sheep did appear he was 
unceremoniously drummed out, and such examples did not often require repetition. 
The privileges arising through a code of miner's laws were considered sacred 
rights which were as universally respected as are local laws anywhere in our 
land. Thus disputes were as a rule amicably settled. We could walk into 
gulch claims that, for aught we knew, were as rich as California's best, and 
would find only the absent miner's pick and shovel in the prospect holes to hold 
the claims. Walking into a new camp here in the earliest days, upon the arrival 
of a mail, and inquiring whether there was anything for yourself, the general 
result would be: "Look in that cracker-box over there; it's got all the mail 
for the camp." Sure enough, every man of them would dive into that box, 
among hundreds of letters, sort them all over and honestly pick out his own. 
We have also always remarked upon another point, that we would sooner 
risk the chances of universal hearty welcome and unstinted hospitality in the 
rude huts of the miners than in a similar number of prosperous homes any- 
where in the "States." From the man who was cleaning up $500 in 
glittering dust per day to he who had as yet failed to make his simple 
" grub-stake " of flour and bacon, we met with the same unvaiying kindness. 
Deadwood and other towns already have good churches and schools, secret 
and other societies, and large circles of as intelligent and cultivated families 
as can be found anywhere. Why, all know that this little army of pioneers 
are already knocking loudly at the doors of the national capitol for new ter- 
ritorial government, that railroads are heading hither, that the telegraph and 
three or four lines of daily mail have enlivened the wilds for a year, and that a 
stream of the precious metals is pouring southward and eastward over the 
Union Pacific that even astonishes "the natives." But we found other things 
which we believe are not so familiar to the average reader. A chain of thriving 
settlements extends from the beautiful Belle Fourche river at the extreme north 
to the South Cheyenne, at the southern edge of the Hills. In a year these ener- 
getic and unfaltering pioneers have set hundreds of stamps to work crushing 
the royal metal from the mountains of rock — and all of this ponderous machi- 
nery they have hauled from two to three hundred miles by wagon. They have 
started flumes and hydraulic mining enterprises on a scale with some of the great 
developments of the Pacific coast and are just commencing to reap the benefits. 
In a year many of the choicest little valleys in the wide west have here been 
made to yield bountifully to the agriculturist, and many miles of unexcelled 
pasturage have been covered with flocks and herds. Thousands of acres of 
forests have been turned to rough and dressed lumber, by machinery also hauled 
several hundred miles, coal mines have been opened, smelting enterprises started, 
oil wells made to furnish lubricating oils for the mills, local railway and street 
railway companies incorporated, and hundreds of other enterprises clustered 
among the romantic valleys or in the pineries — all of these things have been 
accomplished in this new northland under the very guns of hostile raiders. 



WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS. 21 

If all of these things have been brought about amid dangers seen and felt, 
and those more dreaded unseen, what may we not expect of the Eldorado as it 
bounds forward under the banner of peace? But let us get to " bottom facts " 
and figures, and see how the difierent industries are founded and developed. 

Mining. — Everybody knows that the gold hunting furore was the great 
primary cause of the peopling of this rich district, which otherwise would have 
remained a howling wilderness for centuries, and that the same glittering incen- 
tive is resulting in the settlement of the vast Big Horn and Yellowstone regions. 
The mining interest, therefore, comes in for the largest share of attention, and 
our visit of a week or more was largely taken up in walks or rides among the 
gulches and quartz mills. The mineral belt proper of the Black Hills extends 
about sixty miles north and south and is from three to ten miles wide. Gold, 
silver, copper and iron have been found in different formations. Bituminous 
coal of an excellent quality is found on the Redwater, 25 miles from Deadwood, 
and such kindred resources as cinnabar, mica, gypsum and slate are found m 
various localities. 

Gulch or placer mines are found on nearly all streams in the Hills. The 
richest of these have thus far been found in the vicinity of Deadwood and have 
been extensively worked for two seasons, yielding their millions in fine dust and 
nuggets. These extremely rich deposits were rather limited in extent and are 
rapidly becoming exhausted, but hundreds of acres of deep "gravel " and " hill" 
diggings are found at different points on this great mining belt which are 
scarcely touched. The latter have been well prospected, and those on Spring, 
French, Rapid and lower Whitewood creeks, especially, are known to contain 
millions of dollars' worth of the shining metal. The scarcity of water and other 
natural obstacles have rendered the investment of large amounts of capital ab- 
solutely necessary in these localities and have prevented a yield while the 
smaller and richer gulches were turning out their thousands with little outlay. 
Great ditch, flume and hydraulic enterprises have been inaugurated on most of 
the extensive placers, and the season of 1878 will see most of the large claims 
yielding abundantly. Gulch claims on Deadwood creek have yielded all the way 
from $50,000 to $200,000 each, and during the first season — 1876 — $1,500,000 
were taken out of the different gulches near Deadwood. Gold of eveiy degree 
of fineness is encountered and sells at all prices from $16 up to $20 per ounce. 
We had the pleasure of handling it by the dozen pounds from certain gulches, 
where grains would be like powder, and from others where the nuggets ran as 
high as $120 each in value. Of course gold dust is the currency at all points, 
everybody carrying a sack or bottle to hold it and every business house keeping 
gold scales to weigh out the change required. It is the opinion of many experts 
who have examined the gulches of the Black Hills that no region of similar 
extent in the Rocky Mountains contains so large an area of placer diggings. 
Nearly all unite in the belief that many of the deep claims will be yielding 
largely for years to come. 

But quartz mining is destined to become the grand industry, and will alone, 
at no distant day, require the attention of thousands of busy workers. The 
quartz deposits are often simply quarries of prodigious extent, reversing the 
order of mining in older districts and rendering it a much less perplexing piece 
of business. Other deposits are pronounced true fissure veins by California and 
Colorado experts, and are found protruding at different angles, and in some en- 



22 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

tirely new formations. The gold is generally found in decomposed quartzite 
and slate, and is easily separated by the simple stamp-mill process. So acces- 
sible and advantageous do most of the mines lie for working, that the ore is 
often mined at a cost of only $1.50 per ton. The milling then costs an average 
of $3.50 per ton. By this it will be seen that low-grade ores, carrying any- 
where from $8 to $20 per ton, can be worked with profit. Ores of the same 
value in Colorado, Utah and elsewhere, can rarely be utilized, because they are 
of such refractory nature that expensive milling processes are necessary to sep- 
arate the mineral from the rock. In such mmes as the " Father De Smet," 
" Golden Tejra," " Aurora," " Keats," and dozens of others in the Black Hills, 
there are thousands of tons of these easily-worked low-grade ores in sight, run- 
ning from $10 to $50 per ton. When these mines were first discovered the 
"top rock " of some of them was pulverized in a common mortar, and yielded as 
high as $2 per pound. Specimens of nearly pure gold are yet often extracted; 
but to the wonder ul extent of deposits of good average pay-rock in many 
different mines the Black Hills will owe their future greatness. 

Black Hills Bonanzas. — To give foundation for our belief that this is the 
richest small mining district on the face of the globe, we will briefly describe a 
few of the leading mines: The "Father De Smet," near Dead wood, shows a 
body of pay-ore 100 feet in iridth, across the face of the hill, and from 10 to 40 
feet in height. Shafts and tunnels have been sunk into this at a dozen different 
points, all penetrating good pay-ore and failing to disclose an end to the im- 
mense deposit. The average yield of ore taken from the mine at many differ- 
ent points is $18 per ton. Two 20-stamp mills are constantly at work on rock 
from this veritable mountain of gold-bearing mineral, and 2U0 stamps are soon 
to be employed in pounduig out its millions of wealth. The mine, after enrich- 
ing its original owners, was sold late in 1877 to California capita' ists for $400,000. 

The "Homestake," at Lead City, three miles from Deadwood, is almost as 
extensive a deposit of free gold ore as the first-named. There are six excavations 
in a distance of 500 feet along the face of the lode, each down about 50 feet, and 
60 feet in width — the top, bottom and sides all in a splendid body of ore. 
About 6,000 tons of ore, averaging $16 per ton, have already been milled, and 
an 80-stamp mill was at last accounts en route from California to work exclusively 
on rock from this mine. 

Near Central City is the " Reno " mine, also gold-bearing, extensive develop- 
ments upon which demonstrate the fact that there is a compact body of exceed- 
ingly rich ore in sight, 350 by 700 feet in dimensions. Since the discoveiy some 
$4,000 worth of work and material have been expended on the mine. All of 
this, as well as the " pocket money " of the owners, has been pounded out of the 
rock in a common hand mortar and washed out in an ordinary prospecting pan. 
A single ounce of ore, selected as a specimen, yielded $3.50, and one pound and 
a half of the rock pounded to pieces with a sledge-hammer, gave the astonish- 
ing return of $16. We have it from reliable authority that $100,000 in gold 
was offered for this property and refused. 

The " Roderick Dhu," near Deadwood, is pronounced a true fissure vein, and 
has a record worthy of note. It has been traced for a distance of 1,400 feet on 
the surface and, at several points where shafts have been sunk, shows a. crevice 20 
feet wide, which pays from the grass-roots down. All of the ore between these 
walls is fed to the mills without sorting. During the last five months of 1877, 



WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS. 23 

4,000 tons of ore were taken out and crushed, yielding about $16 per ton. A 
perfect leaf of gold, weighing eleven pennyweights, and taken from one of the 
shafts, is one of the specimens on exhibition at the mine. 

The " Fairview " is another of the Black HUls quartz mines which tells its 
own story every day in the week. At the bottom of a 40-foot shaft the ore- 
body is 100 feet wide, and of universally good grade. Over 2,000 tons of free- 
gold ore, yielding from $12 to $20 per ton, have been worked at the company's 
mill. 

There are dozens of othei-s on a par with the above, but it is needless to 
mention them here. Forty different mines are crushing ore and at least one 
bundred have large piles of it on the "dump," waiting for milling facilities. 
Two of the principal mines alone keep ten mills busy constantly. On Octo- 
"ber 23, 1877, the Davenport ten-stamp mill cleaned up $1,534 from 100 tons 
of "Homestake, No. 1" ore; October 31, Elliott & Parker's ten-stamp mill 
cleaned up 108 ounces of gold from eight tons of "Father De Smet" ore; 
$12,000 gold was the result of a ten days' run from Pecacho ore under sev- 
enty stamps; ten days' run of ten stamps on "Fairview" ore returned $7,000 
in gold; December 10, Parker's twenty-stamp mill cleaned up $6,000 in gold 
from a nine day's run on ore from the "Hidden Treasure." The plates only 
were cleaned, and the batteries always retain as much gold as is taken from 
the plates. These figures are merely given as average results of stamp mill 
work in the Hills and for the benefit of doubting readers. Dozens of others 
would show the same returns, and the end is not yet. The cry everywhere 
is " stamp mills! " There were 47 mills, with a total of 700 stamps, in opera- 
tion in January, 1878, and 8 more, having 300 stamps, in course of construc- 
tion. All this in just one year from the time of entry of the first stamp mill. 
It is safe to say that the summer of 1878 wUl see 1,200 stamps ininning day and 
night upon Black Hills gold ores — more than are in operation in Utah, Wyo- 
ming, Montana and Idaho combined; and, extravagant as it may seem, we 
firmly believe that this now comparatively unknown and unappreciated little 
treasure house will send more gold to the marts of trade during the year than 
all of the territories put together. 

The Silver Mines. — The discovery of silver is of more recent date than 
that of gold, the summer of 1877 having almost passed before much attention 
was attracted to the silver-bearing ores of the Hills. Bear Butte, a dozen 
miles from Deadwood, is the principal silver-mining camp. It boasts a pop- 
ulation of about 200 people, who all hang their faith upon the present and 
prospective value of the silver veins. The mineral belt is not very extensive, 
but enough mines have been discovered, which bid fair to rival the best of 
Colorado and Utah, to assure wealth for many. The ore is very easily worked, 
a large proportion needing only the old reliable stamp mill to make it give 
up its wealth. The "base" portion — that which cannot be reduced by stamps 
— is susceptible of reduction by the smelting process, with but trifling cost. A 
smelter and crusher is in successful operation, proving not only the richness of 
the ores, but alao the ease with which the solid rock is made to yield its wealth 
of silver. 

Among the principal silver mines is the "Florence," into which a tunnel 300 
feet in length has been driven. The tunnel follows a rich ore body all the way. 
Large shipments of the mineral were made to the Omaha Smelting Works pre- 



24 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

vious to the completion of the local works, and after paying the expenses of 
freighting nearly 300 miles by wagon and 500 by rail, realized handsome re- 
turns for the owner. The "Red Cloud," "Sitting Bull," "Merritt" — Nos. 1 
and 2, and the " Silver Harvest" all show fine bodies of high grade ore, which 
impatiently await the magic touch of capital to transform them into silver bars. 
Ores from these mines assay all the way from $50 to $2,000 per ton. Bald 
Mountain, five miles above Deadwood, is another promising silver district, hav- 
ing very high grade ore in several mines. A town called Silver City has been 
laid out and is growing rapidly. 

Location, Yield of Mines, Sales, Etc. — Up to January 10, 1878, there had 
been 7,200 gold and silver mines recorded in the diiferent districts of the Black 
Hills. The yield of gold for the year 1877 was estimated by bankers and other 
competent authority at nearly $4,000,000, four-fifths of which went south by 
express and private conveyance to the Union Pacific Railroad. Leading sales 
of mining property have been as follows: "Father De Smet," $400,000; 
"Golden Terra," $80,000; " Homestake, No. 1," $70,000; "Homestake, No. 
2," $50,000; "Florence," $51,000; "Old Abe," $42,500. Hundreds of other 
cash transfers have been made at prices from $1,000 up to $25,000. The Cali- 
fornia mining capitalists, who have been so anxious to determine the existence 
or non-existence of true fissure veins in the Hills, have invested nearly a million 
of dollars in mines and mills around Deadwood, as a token of their present 
belief in the matter. 

Petroleum. — As if nature could not too bountifully lavish her favors upon 
this until recently terra incognita of our dominions, aside from producing the val- 
uable precious and base metals, we find incontrovertible evidence of the existence 
of an extensive petroleum deposit, the products of which, at no distant day, prom- 
ises to form a large item in the catalogue of our industries. In the fall of 1877 a 
flowing spring of genuine petroleum was discovered eight miles to the south- 
east of Jenney's Stockade, on the Cheyenne and Black Hills stage road. The 
crude oil has been taken to Deadwood by the barrel and is now being used for 
lubricating purposes at the quartz mills there and elsewhere. Those of much 
experience in the oil fields of Pennsylvania pronounce this Black Hills produc- 
tion superior to the native oils of that state, it possessing a much heavier 
"body" and with less grit or impurities. The fields are some twenty-five miles 
wide with a length unknown. Up to February 1, 1878, nearly 100 locations of 
160 acres each had been made, and improved machinery for boring was en route. 
Eastern lubricating oil, laid down at Deadwood, costs $31 per barrel. As great 
quantities are used in the Hills the value of this discovery can in a measure be 
estimated. 

'^Ranching,'" Lumbering, Scenertj, etc. — The numerous valleys, fertile soil 
and abundant rainfall in the Hills, together with the best market in the land, 
have combined to render "ranching," or farming, a very general avocation. 
The soil is generally a rich black loam, well nigh bottomless, as the valleys 
have long been filling up from the crumbling mould of the adjacent hills. Rain 
falls in light warm showers almost daily in summer — an unaccountable phe- 
nomena in that plain-bound oasis. In the lower valley, wheat, oats, barley and 
all hardy vegetables are grown without trouble, and in the higher parks, pota- 
toes, cabbages, peas, etc., yield abundantly. The Spearfish, Belle Fourche and 
Redwater are the principal valleys, and already have much of their arable area 




Emma Lake, Estes Park, 
Near the Colorado Central Railhoao. 



•26 TO THE ROCKIES ANT) BEYOND. 

taken up. One farmer in Spearfish valley (Judge J. S. Beck) cleared $15,000 
on potatoes and other vegetables from his 160-acre ranch in 1877. Potatoes sell 
at from 7 to 10 cents per pound at any of the mining camps; cabbage, 5 cents; 
turnips, 8; onions, 12; squash, 10; corn, 6; oats, 6. A luxuriant growth of grass 
spreads over the whole region, even upon the steep hill sides, and is utihzed at 
many points by fine herds of cattle and sheep. The varieties of grass are almost 
endless; wild oats, wild rye, crowsfoot, grama and blue stem are among the 
varieties noticed. The areas of hay lands are not extensive, as a rule, but 
small patches are found in the parks and along the streams everywhere. Hay 
sells at from $20 to $30 per ton at Deadwood. Agricultural districts outside of 
the Hills are so far distant that the farmer near the mines will always secure 
extravagant prices for produce. 

Wild fruits are exceptionally plentiful. We repeatedly feasted on plums, 
which were superior in flavor to any wild ones we have ever eaten elsewhere. 
Raspberries, gooseberries, currants, service berries, bear berries, stra^Yberries 
and cherries, with other varieties that to us are nameless, are found in different 
localities. Hazel nuts and hops are also found, the hops making a growth 
scarcely equaled in the rich bottoms of the Mississippi and Missouri. The flora 
is none the less varied. Nearly all the wild flowers familiar in the east are 
reported here, and the visitor is greeted by some new and very beautiful species. 
Fish are plentiful in some of the streams, but better hunting grounds can be 
found nearer the railroad, because a horde of hunters have for two years been 
glutting the ravenous appetites of Black Hillers on the trophies of the chase. 

The lumbering interest has assumed proportions only second in importance 
to that of mining. Pine, spruce, oak and birch are leading varieties among 
the hills, while cottonwood, box-elder and ash border most of the streams. Six- 
teen saw mills are at work in the immediate vicinity of Deadwood, and the 
forests are full of them in other sections. Besides the large quantities of lum- 
ber needed for building purposes it is consumed very rapidly in timbering mines. 
It sells at from $28 to $30 per M delivered. 

Stage roads track the Hills in every direction and from these running south 
to Sidney and Cheyenne, especially, views rivaling the beauties of the Catskills 
can often be obtained. It should be remembered that the scenery here more 
nearly resembles that of the eastern mountains than anything in the west. The 
^oft outlines, the luxuriant vegetation, and the rippling brooks are leading con- 
stituents, rather than cold, gray cliffs, barren walls and rushing torrents so com- 
mon in the Rockies. Sulphur and other medicinal waters are found in the south- 
ern part of thi Hills, and a cave, well worthy the visit of every traveler, is one 
of the attractions near Crook City in the northern portion. The admirable 
views of Sunshine Falls and Sentinel Rock on another page, will give readers an 
idea of the hundreds of other snnilar gems of Black Hills scenery. 

Mining Camps, Population, Cost of Living and Routes. — Prominent camps 
outside of Deadwood are as follows: Gayville, South Bend, Central City, Golden 
Gate, Anchor City, Oro and Lead City, all within a circuit of four miles from 
Deadwood and centers of rich gulch and quartz mines. The total population 
of these is about 5,000. Crook City, located in a beautiful park on Whitewood 
creek, 10 miles east of Deadwood, contains about 500 inhabitants. It was named 
in honor of General Crook, — whose successful campaigns against the hostile Sioux 
and Cheyennes have enabled the settlers to hold their homes— and is surrounded 



WYOMING AND THE BLACK HILLS. 27 

by rich mines as well as adjacent to fine agricultural valleys. Rapid City is a 
thiiving town of about 700 inhabitants, located 42 miles south of Deadwood, on 
the Sidney and Black Hills stage road. Large quartz veins, carrying both gold 
a^rol silver, have been discovered in the vicinity. Deposits of iron ore and 
gypsum are also quite extensive here. Rapid Creek, on the banks of which the 
town is located, furnishes an admirable and never-failing water power by its 
rapid fall and large volume. It courses a valley of surpassing beauty and 
marked fertility, some 40 miles in length by from one to two miles in width. On the 
same stage hne and 53 miles south of Deadwood is Custer, the pioneer settlement 
in the Black Hills, and in our estimation by far the most beautifully located. 
French Creek here waters a broad, level valley, which is bordered by low, grassy 
bills, dotted with clusters of pines. Some of the highest peaks in the hills limit 
vision in the distance and form background for one of the loveliest landscapes in 
the country. Good quartz mines have been discovered in the vicinity and the 
deep gulch diggings of French Creek were the first prime incentives to the rush 
of gold seekers. Population about 500. Galena, 12 miles from Deadwood, is a 
promising camp in the Bear Butte silver mining district, containing some 400 
people. Good wagon roads and daily stage lines connect nearly all of these 
points with Cheyenne and Sidney. 

A.t the convention called favoring the organization of a new territory in the 
fall of 1877, 19 towns and mining camps were represented. The present total 
population of the Black Hills region is estimated at from 12,O()0 to 18,000. 
More people have been in the Hills, but hundreds of the " driftwood " have 
folded their tents and sought other fields, leavmg the real bone and sinew to 
conquer the wilds. We believe that few fields are presented which offer such 
inducements for the investment of small or large capital, but he who possesses 
neither dollars nor energy can exist to a better advantage east of the Missouri. 
There are mines, pastures and farmlands here which will enrich twice the pres- 
ent population, in spite of all reports of departed grumblers. 

Cost of living at principal hotels in the Hills is from $12 to $20 per week; at 
boarding houses, $8 to $10. Miners often live in cabins and " batch it " at a cost 
of from $3 to $5 each per week. Prices of provisions, aside from ranch produce 
already noted, are about as follows: Flour, $8.50 to $10 per cvvt; bacon, 18 to 
25 c nts per pound; butter, 35 to 45 cents; dried fruits, 18 to 25; coffee, 35 to 
45; sugars, 18 to 20; eggs, 45 to 75 cents per dozen. Cottages of only two and 
three rooms rent for $25 to $40 per month; business houses, 20x40 feet, rent 
readily at $150 per month. Good miners nearly always find employment at 
from $4 to $5 per day. Novices are numerous now and don't receive more 
than half as much as the skilled workmen. 

All agree that the old established routes to the Union Pacific Railway, via 
Cheyenne or Sidney, offer the only direct and safe means of exit from the Black 
Hills. They are the only natural ones and of course the tide of travel and ship- 
ments of treasure and produce must always flow over them. Concerning this 
general opinion of residents the Blach Hills Mining Bepotier says: "The com- 
fort, speed and popularity of Union Pacific Railway trains is too well established 
to need a word of commendation. From Sidney or Cheyenne passengers take 
the coaches of the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage company; well superintended, 
the roads well stocked with four and six-horse Concord coaches and with every 
comfort of stage travel, and over a solendid road, reach Deadwood in 50 hours 



28 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

from the time of starting, the distance being 260 miles. The fare (through 
ticket) from Chicago to Deadwood is $49.25. This is the only line upon which 
military posts are established, and over which a telegraph wire runs.* This 
being the acknowledged best route, the traveling public should choose no other, 
for the following reasons : The removal of the Indians by the government from 
the Red Cloud Agency to the Missouri river, renders the southern route from 
the U. P. R. R. entirely free from marauding bands; while the northern routes 
via Pierre and Bismarck will be constantly crossed by these turbulent spirits, 
going to and from Sitting Bull's camp and the excellent hunting grounds of the 
Yellowstone and Powder river countries. The recent raids made 'on the Bis- 
marck coaches fully authenticate this. Therefore, for safety, speed and comfort, 
we would give the Sidney and Cheyenne routes our unqualified and hearty 
recommendation. Having personally obtained a thorough knowledge of all 
routes we give this entirely free from recompense from the railroads or the stage 
lines, and with certainly no prejudice, but with a conscious sense of doing our 
whole duty to the vast immigration that will necessarily visit this new Eldorado." 
It should be remembered that Custer, Hay ward, Rapid City, and other points 
at the eastern edge of the Hills, are on the Sidney route, while all mining 
camps in the center or on the western side of the Hills, are either on the line 
of the Cheyenne route or are easily accessible from it. (See map in this pam- 
phlet.) Custer can also be reached from the Cheyenne route; a daily stage lino 
branching off fi'om Jenny's Stockade for that point. Fares from Deadwood to 
Crook City, 10 miles, $2; to Rapid City, 42 miles, $6; Cheyenne or Sidney, f30. 
Fares from Deadwood to all points in the Hills will average fifteen cents per 
mile. 

THE BIG HORN REGION. 

Lying almost wholly in northwestern Wyoming, and covering an area of 
some 15,000 square miles, is the great Big Horn Region, which is so rapidly 
coming to the front as a rendezvous for overflowing civilization. Rising near 
the head of Powder river the Big Horn Range trends off" grandly to the north- 
west for a distance of 200 miles, and then, turning almost directly west, soon 
loses itself in the different ranges bordering the Yellowstone National; Park. 
Many of the mountain peaks rise up 12.000 feet above the sea, while the average 
altitude of the valleys at the base of the range is 4,500 feet. A scene which we 
can never forget is that which we enjoyed from the Cheyenne route as we caught 
our first glimpse of this great water-shed. We can do no better than to quote 
what we jotted down then: "Nearly the whole of the resplendent range, 
stretching off along the northwestern horizon 150 miles, is grasped by the eager 
vision — ' a cloud-land mirage ! ' we first exclaim, its lofty peaks appearing 
white, fleecy and ethereal enough to belong to cloud-land, and yet too surpass- 
ingly grand to be spared by even a beautiful earth. In most harmonious 
contrast to the great banks of glittering snow — banks of burnished silver, they 
looked to us — are the long, purple- tinged pedestals upon which they rest. 
These are the unusally rugged foot-hills, and they receive their rich coloring 
from dense forests of pine and spruce, which cover them from base to summit. 
From near the center rise Cloud and Hayes peaks, the proudest landmarks of all 
the northern country, while at frequent intervals on either side other snow- 
capped sentinels are clearly outlined against the sky. Even from this distant 



WYOxMING AXD THE BLACK HILLS. 29 

Yiew the grand canons of the Tongue river tributaries are defined — sombre 
and threatening gashes, and sometimes almost cavernous in their rocky mould." 

It was the writer's good fortune to traverse this grand wilderness almost 
from end to end, and to several times cross the Big Horn range in the vicinity 
of Cloud Peak. From the summit, at an altitude of some 1^,000 feet, a view 
which can hardly be equaled in the mountain ranges of America was obtained. 
Eastward it swept from the Powder river region to that of the Yellowstone and 
■a. radius of 250 miles was but a comprehensive panorama for the naked eye. 
The Tongue, Powder, Rosebud and other rivers could be traced almost from the 
feet of the enraptured visitor, out northward among their lesser mountains and 
flanking plains, until lost in the picturesque brakes of the Yellowstone, 150 
miles away. Westward for over 100 miles stretched the valley of the Big Horn, 
the crystal sheen of that river itself often emerging from graceful groves of 
richest green. Still beyond in that direction were the Wmd River mountains, 
with their thousand rugged canyons and unbroken covering of snow. Yet 
beyond — over 200 miles distant — was the Shoshone range, bordering the 
National Park, its giant peaks rising up like spectres in the dim background 
saying, " thus far and no farther shalt thy vision penetrate." Then the gi-and 
mass of granite upon which we stood, so long the fascinating terra incognita of 
the northwest, and to-day the richest field of promise in all our broad land, 
afforded a study never to be forgotten. Mountains upon mountains rolled up 
toward our common footstool like the exaggerated waves of an ocean — with 
" white caps " of snow for " white caps " of foam — these, when analyzed, be- 
coming live forests of refreshing green or fire-licked forests of sombre brown and 
gray, sheltering hundreds of mountain torrents, leaping waterfalls, pine- 
embowered parks and rock-girt lakes. It was simply a survey of America's 
best hunting-grounds, her deepest and grandest solitudes, and her land richest 
in native tradition, adventure and "extravagant possibilities." Much abler 
pens filled columns with glowing descriptions of those "dizzy altitudes, black, 
ened cliffs and awful gorges," and yet the half has not been told. 

The region has always been coveted by dififerent savage nations, and its 
lovely valleys have been the scene of perpetual strife. The Crows and Shoshonea 
have for years sacrificed their best blood in vain endeavors to rid it of their 
deadly enemies, the Sioux. The tribes unite in calling the Big Horn and Tongue 
river regions the most beautiful of America — the natural home of all noble 
game and of the most delicate fish. The Crows have a beautiful saying, "The 
Great Spirit only looks at other countries in summer, but here he dwells all the 
year," Then another tribe have a tradition which tells them that this country 
is nearest the " happy hunting ground," and that the warrior who falls here is 
particularly favored, because he makes only one short step from the old scenes 
to the enchanting new. 

Gold in the Big Horn Mountains. — " Colors " of gold have been found in 
nearly all the streams debouching from the Big Horn Mountains, but as yet the 
source of all these little grains is a profound mystery. It is known that mining 
was carried on there many years ago by the Spanish explorers from the south 
and that many trappers and scouts, during hasty visits in our own time, have 
found deposits of considerable richness. Numerous small and a few large par- 
ties of miners have entered the region and found splendid prospects of both 
gulch and quartz gold, but always encountered supernumerary savages as well. 



30 TO THE ROCKIKS AND BEYOND. 

One year ago the region was considered practically impenetrable by any force 
short of a regiment of well disciplined troops; and the operations of the military 
have always been so thoroughly confined to taking care of " Mr. Lo " (some- 
times to taking care of themselves) that no real opportunity has been oiFered for 
a thorough search of the gulches. In January, 1878, considerable excitement 
was created by the discoveries of rich quartz mines on Crazy Woman's Fork of 
Powder river. We have seen immense deposits of decomposed gold-bearing 
quartz during our perambulations with the military in the mountains near Cloud 
Peak. The veins were clearly defined ledges of from five to twenty feet in width, 
protruding from the vast walls of granite so plainly that they could be traced for 
miles. We still believe that quartz and placer mines of an extent and richness 
second to none in the western mountains will be found within the grand confines 
of this section. 

Valleys, Soil, Climate, Game and Fish. — The principal rivers are the Pow- 
der, Tongue, Wind and Big Horn, with hundreds of splendid tributaries which 
well deserve the title of "rivers." For nearly two hundred miles along the 
northeastern base of the Big Horn mountains, the clearest and most beautiful of 
streams sweep violently down through their picturesque gorges, and course 
northward a hundred and fifty miles to the common reservoir — the great Yel- 
lowstone. These often occur at intervals of less than five miles, and it is seldom 
that more than a dozen miles of unequaled uplands separate them, or that C17S- 
tal springs do not send pretty laterals bounding over gravel beds to the more 
pretentious creeks or rivers. The valleys are fi-om one to ten miles wide, and the 
soil is usually a rich, black, porous loam. Every element of fertility seems to be 
present, and every species of vegetation attests its wonderful nourishment by a 
most luxuriant growth. Irrigation will be a necessary auxiliai-y to cultivation, 
but with these numberless dashing streams, bearing with their beauty the im- 
palpable fertilizers of crumbling mountains, it will be a pleasure rather than a 
task. Vegetable life is much the same as in Rocky Mountain regions four hun- 
dred miles farther south, except that the varieties here often have a much stronger 
growth. Wild rye is found so tall that a cavaliyman could nearly, if not entirely, 
hide himself in it, while mounted. Wild oats, native blue-grass, and all the 
varieties of plains grasses, present this same strong testimony of fertility of soil 
and congenial climate. Natural pasture lands could not be finer than these. 
The average altitude of the valleys being less than 4.000 feet, the region of 
summer frosts is not reached. Wild fruits and flowers are as plentiful as in the 
Black Hills. 

Many of the valleys contain enough cottonwood, ash, box-elder and other 
timber to supply logs for fuel or building, for years to come. The great mount- 
ains overlooking on one side, and many of the bluff's below, are covered with 
forests of pine, hemlock, spruce and cedar, furnishing inexhaustible quantities of 
building material. We opine that about every other settler will own a coal 
mine, as the " black diamonds " crop out almost everywhere, and are known to 
furnish an excellent quality of fuel, as they have often been tested in the camp 
forges of the military. 

We found some of our choicest hunting grounds in this region, and, as 
already intimated, it has always been considered a very paradise for hunters, 
white or red. It was the chosen resort of hundreds of Northwestern Fur Com- 
pany employes half a century ago. Many were the batteaux, or Mackinaw 



32 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

boats, which floated down the great rivers from these wilds, freighted with the 
richest offerings of field, forest and stream. A pretty good joke — and one with 
solid foundation in fact ^ is told at the expense of one of the prominent officers 
who led a large expedition through this region about ten years ago : The col- 
umn was near the forks of the Piney, and scouts came back with the report that 
a large body of Indians was moving up the valley, with evident intent to attack. 
The general hastened forward, took in the terrors of the situation with his field 
glass, and soon had his forces posted in first rate style for defense. The attack- 
ing column advanced in very close order, and kicked up so much dust that little 
could be seen of it. But it surged on resistlessly. Men were holding their 
breath in the tremor of suspense, and just as they expected the order to fire a 
sharp breeze wafted away the dust, disclosing a herd of a thousand elk — ten 
thousand, our informant says, but we should prefer not to spoil a good story. 

Elk, buffalo, mountain sheep, black and white-tailed deer, antelope, grizzly 
and other varieties of bear, witli all kinds of small game, have always found in 
this region their most coveted surroundings. The streams are yet full of beaver 
and other fur-bearing animals, and the country is literally alive with several spe- 
cies of the wolf. The Yellowstone, Big Horn and Tongue rivers and their hun- 
dreds of tributaries, are plentifully supplied with trout, pike, shiners, catfish, 
suckers, and other varieties of fish. 

Two years ago only the ruins of long since abandoned forts suggested thoughts 
of past or present civilization. Now three of the largest military posts in Amer- 
ica — one near the spot where the gallant Custer fell — are located at convenient 
intervals. In January, 1878, great excitement was caused by the discovery of 
rich quartz mines on the head waters of a fork of Powder river, where just one 
year before. General Crook's forces fought one of the hardest battles of the Sioux 
war. The telegraph is now stretched from Fort Fetterman, on the Platte, to 
Camp McKinney on Powder river — where the Sioux, ten years ago, burnt and 
plundered old P'ort Reno — and the whole region is thus placed on gossiping 
terms with the outside world. The spot now occupied by Murphy's Ranch, on 
the Clear Fork of Powder river, was for many years one of the Indians' choicest 
camping places, and the broad and beautiful valley is there fairly strewn with 
tepee poles and other remnants of the aborigines' favorite habitation. Herds 
have been pushed northward far beyond the Platte, up along the Cheyenne and 
Big Horn road, ranches being scattered along at all the crossings of the streams 
from Cheyenne through to the base of the Big Horn mountains, a distance of 
three hundred miles. 

The Cheyenne route from the southeast is the only one which yet furnishes a 
-complete list of camping places, and which has been measured by odometer. It 
is also the only one yet traversed by the writer, and therefore the only one of 
which he can speak understandingly. It is the old overland Montana route, 
possesses a splendid road-bed and easy grades from beginning to end, and lies 
over the country which would naturally be traversed by the proposed Cheyenne 
and Montana railway Following the regular Black Hills road to Hunton's 
ranch, on the Chugwater, the emigrant then branches off to the northwest upon 
the old and constantly traveled government highway to Fort Fetterman. Such 
clear, strong streams as the Laramie river, Horseshoe, Big Cottonwood, Elkhorn 
and La Bonte creeks are crossed en route, affording fine camping places with 
plenty of wood and pure mountain water. From Fort Fetterman northwest, a 



WYOMIXG AisD liiE Bi.ACK HILLS. 33 

distance of ninety miles, over choice grazing lands, the traveler will find as fine 
a road as crosses any portion of our prairies. This stage of the journey com- 
pleted, Camp McKinney, on Powder river, is reached. Forty miles distant the 
grand Big Horn range rises in plain view, and the journey thither is finished 
easily in a day's ride. At the Powder river crossing a good stock of provisions 
IS always on hand, and that point will be found a most convenient outpost. A 
weekly mail now goes to that point via Cheyenne. A fair wagon road leads 
from Deadwood to Camp McKinney — distance, 200 miles. Following is an 
accurate table of distances over the Cheyenne route : 

Miles. 

Cheyenne to Lodge Pole Creek 16 

Lodge Pole Creek to Bear Springs 20 

Bear Springs to Chugwater 14 

Chugwater to Hunton's Ranch 15 

Hunton's Ranch to South Laramie River 22 

Laramie River to Cottonwood R^nch 20 

Cottonwood Ranch to Elkhorn 25 

Elkhorn to Wagon Hound 15 

Wagon Hound to Fort Fetterman 16 

Fort Fetterman to Sage Creek* 14 

Sage Creek to South Fork Cheyenne River 18 

South Fork Cheyenne to Antelope Springsf 21 

Antelope Springs to Dry Fork of Powder River 23 

Dry Fork Powder to Camp McKinney 14 

Camp McKinney to Crazy Woman's Fork 27 

Crazy Woman's Fork to Clear Fork 20 

Clear Fork to base of Cloud Peak 25 

Total 325 

The distance from Cheyenne to Virginia City, Montana, by this route, is 690 
miles. Wyoming legislators have already memorialized Congress for a land 
grant in aid of a railway leading thither. As camps, trading posts, mail routes, 
and the telegraph are established to the southern boundary of the Big Horn 
region, and prospectors have already rushed in by the hundred, the daily six- 
horse coach over that line is a feature of the not very distant future. The Big 
Horn region, so vast, so rich in agricultural and pastoral resources, and undoubt- 
edly possessing great mineral wealth, will then soon be pouring its cattle and 
sheep, its grain and wool, and its riches of the sluice-box and quartz vein out 
over the common trans-continental highway. Verily, whither is the course of 
empire ? 

* No wood t Water poor and scarce. 

3 



34 TO THE ROCKTES A¥D BEYOND. 



CHAPTER III. 

COLORADO — WEALTH AND ATTRACTIONS OF OUR YOUNGEST 

STATE. 

Now, as the tourist glides southward over that prodigy of all Colorado rail- 
ways — the Colorado Central — and crosses into the realms of the bright Centen- 
nial State, he may wish to glance at Colorado, past and present. Only nineteen 
years ago the germ of this noble commonwealth was planted along the golden 
gulches he is so rapidly nearing. In these nineteen years Colorado's mountains 
have yielded $80,000,000 in gold and silver. It is estimated that her pastures, 
farms and dairies have furnished her markets^'with $50,000,000 worth of pro- 
ducts, and her taxable wealth has increased from a few thousands in 1859 to over 
$40,000,000 in 1877. From the small gatherings of frenzied miners along her 
mineral veins in palmy '59, she has grown to the enviable strength of 150,000 
busy, conquering natures, these inhabitants fairly charged with a nervous, un- 
compromising energy, born of sunny skies and purest ether. Over 60,000 mines 
have already been discovered and recorded, and the din of the quartz miU, the diill 
and the blast echo night and day from a thousand mountain sides and mountain 
depths. The yield of gold, silver, copper and coal for 1877, according to the 
best authority, was $9,000,000. The shipments of live stock amounted to 75,000 
head; of wool, 5,000,000 pounds; yield of wheat, 1,750,000 bushels; value of 
manufactured articles, $5,838,209.60; number of live stock in the state, 1,500,- 
000 head. The following table represents the value of all productions for the 
year 1877: 

BuUion $7,913,411 00 

Cattle 2,233,200 00 

Wheat 1,837,500 00 

Other agricultural products 775,000 00 

Hay. . . 7 1,250,000 00 

Coal 1,065,385 00 

Wool, hides, etc 1,340,000 00 

Manufactured products 5,838,209 60 

Total $22,252,705 60 

Seven years ago Colorado was without railway communication, and generally 
styled "out of the world." To-day her energetic citizens point with pride to 
eight different railroads tracking her broad prairies and plunging even to the 
hearts and heights of her mountains. The total number of miles of these lines 
operated is 1,133. Half of these have been constructed while the railway inter- 
est has been paralyzed in almost all other sections, ami Colorado' s_showing is 
due almost wholly to the invincible pluck of her citizens, the wondrous wealth 
of her mines and the riches in her grasses and farm lands. Seven of these lines, 
aggregating nearly 1,000 miles, were built while she was yet a territory. The 
daily mail, telegraph and express radiate from her capital city to every nook and 
corner. From the garden spot of the state you are just entering at the north to 
the furthermost mining camp south and west you will And these pulsating and 




Bui'i.DKR Falls, Boulder Canyon, Col. 



36 TO THE liOCKIKS AND BEYOND. 

life-giving arteries contributing their share toward founding an empire of 
wealth. 

Commercial and educational interests have in these few years of Colorado's 
history augmented in almost incredible speed. In the past seven years she has 
trebled in population and wealth. The state already boasts thirty-five banking 
institutions, with a capital of over $3,000,000. Wholesale houses carrying large 
stocks and representing every line are not only found in Denver, but at several 
other valley and mountain cities. These do a business of from $.500,000 to 
$1,500,000 each, and come into close competition with heavy eastern dealers. 
Internal revenue collections in 1877 were $80,000, or more than those from Ari- 
zona, Dakota, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming combined. As an evidence of the 
educational and literary advantages enjoyed here in the heart of the continent 
it may be mentioned that the state contains 275 free schools, a magnificent State 
University and half a dozen well-conducted sectarian and private seminaries. 
No people read more, these not only supporting a dozen crood public libraries, 
but also sustaining forty-five well-edited newspapers, one-sixth of the number 
being published daily. 

In points of climate or scenery Colorado is rivaled by no other state or terri- 
tory in the land. Her pleasure and health resorts, from one to two miles above 
sea level, afford an atmosphere which is an elixir in itself. Into her princely 
area of 105,000 square miles are crowded every variety of valley and mountain 
temperature. Sunshine, dry streets and a maximum of warm days may be en- 
joyed in her sheltered valleys in winter, or flowers and snow banks and a frosty 
atmosphere may garnish the mountain camp-ground in midsummer. The range 
of mineral waters for either bathing or drinking purposes is probably greater 
than in any region of similar extent on the globe. Hot sulphur and soda for 
bathing, cold soda, seltzer, iron, chalybeate and sulphur for drinking, are found 
at altitudes ranging from 5,000 to 9,000 feet above the sea, and in several cases 
are within sight of the railway. The scenic attractions are none the less varied, 
and can nearly always be viewed from the luxuriant palace car, the comfortable day 
coach, or by unsurpassed mountain carriage roads. The invalid, whose mind 
must feed on something, can combine business and profit with the great aim of 
his sojourn, for adjacent to the most charming health resorts are Colorado's 
grandest mining, smelting and railroad enterprises. These offer an ever-fruitful 
study, and always present a field for business venture. As a prominent writer 
expresses it: " Life everywhere is safe; travel is easy; the mountains are full of 
neat little homes." No region of such multiplied attractions could be more 
accessible. 

This is but a hasty outline, an imperfect peep through the portals of one of 
these marvelously rich a,nd thriving regions so thoroughly permeated and drained 
by the Union Pacific and its busy feeders. While following the bands of steel 
through the valleys and into the mountains we tried to become acquainted with 
the pleasant topic in all its details, and in pages following will give our read- 
ers the result. • 

THE COLORADO CENTRAL BRANCH OF THE UNION PACIFIC 

RAILWAY. 
One of the most important of all home enterprises of the state is this giant 
young railway. The completion of its main line from Denver to the Union Pa- 



"THE AMEKICAX SWITZERLAND." 37 

cific, at Cheyenne, marks a jifrand era in the railway history of Coloiado, and 
suppHes us with striking illustrations of healthy " outwest " enterprise. Begun 
seven years ago, at Golden City, with prospects anything but bright, it has not 
only been the pioneer for the farmer in the valleys, but has carried with it the 
means of development for the miner within his walls of granite and at his sluice- 
box as well. Under the auspices and continued guidance of the present presi- 
dent of the company, Hon. W. A. H. Loveland, it has been pushed to completion 
with an energy worthy of note. The first section of sixteen miles was com- 
menced and completed in the summer months of 1870. This was the standard 
broad-gauge, and connected Denver with Golden, at the foot-hills. During the 
summer and fall of 1872 the narrow-gauge hne was pushed through the won- 
derful Clear Creek Canon, from Golden to the heart of the great gold region at 
Black Hawk, a distance of twenty-two miles. Early in 1873 four miles of nar- 
row-gauge were completed up South Clear Creek, opening by an easy route the 
whole of Clear Creek county and the rich silver mines of Georgetown. A month 
later thirty-eight miles of the main broad-gauge line, leading from Golden north 
through Colorado's finest farm lands to Longmont, were in operation. During 
the months of May. June and July, 1877, the mountain line was extended along 
South Clear Creek to Georgetown — fourteen miles — tapping the very silver veins, 
and carrying needed supplies from the fertile valleys 5,000 feet below to the 
miner's door. While this work was going on in the depths of the mountains, 
the crowning achievement was inaugurated on the through line between Long- 
mont and Cheyenne. Including the switches, eighty miles of track were here 
laid in sixty-seven days, and by the close of October, 1877, Colorado enjoyed her 
first independent through line, from the mountain cities to Omaha and the Mis- 
souri river. 

The narrow-gauge extension from Black Hawk to Central, four miles, one of 
the finest pieces of railway engineering ever attempted, is also about completed, 
and will give this corporation 185 miles of splendidly built and equipped road- 
way. Extensions also in progress from Georgetown to the South Park silver mines, 
73 miles; from Central to Caribou, 20 miles, and from Golden to Acequia, on the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railway, 16 miles, will assist in a large degree in making 
this railway the great drain and feeder of all the prominent mining and agricul- 
tural regions of Colorado. 

The Only Route. — The Colorado Central Railway is the only route traversing 
the rich and populous agricultural districts of the state. It is the only line pen- 
etrating the immense gold and silver belt, and the only one tapping alike the 
great valley coal measures and mountain forests. By it the tourist is furnished 
the grandest mountain views at every mile of progress and is finally set down in 
the midst of the most rugged and beautiful canon scenery, or within stone's 
throw of Colorado's most famous medicinal springs. Of Colorado's thirty 
counties the different branches of this railway penetrate six. These six counties, 
according to official reports, contain 75,000 people, or one-half of the entire pop- 
ulation of the State. Their taxable wealth is $20,500,000— more than half the 
total valuation of the State — and in gold and silver, wheat and other products, 
these six counties contributed in 1877 $14,000,000 out of the total of $22,000,000 
produced by the entire state. The wheat yield of four of these banner counties 
— Larimer, Boulder, Jefferson and Arapahoe — was 1,150,000 bushels, three- 
fourths of the production of the state, while the three counties of Boulder, Clear 



38 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

Creek and Gilpin — tributary alone to the Colorado Central Railway — poured out 
an offering of $5,200,000 in gold, silver and coal, and thus suppUed two-thirds of 
Colorado's mineral yield. 

In brief, then, the Colora'.lo Central Railway is prosperous, alone and unri- 
valed in its sphere because, first, it alone penetrates the most thickly populated 
and the most lavishly productive sections of a rich state; second, because it fol- 
lows the greatest of all belts — the wheat belts anu the belts of gold and silver; 
third, it is the great and only factor of exchange between the army of treasui-e- 
finders in the metal-ribbed mountains and the thousands of thrifty wheat and 
cattle-raisers in the fertile valleys; fourth, it bears the pleasure- seeker to natural 
attractions rivaling the Yosemite, and the invalid to the country's most invig- 
orating atmosphere and most delicious and health-giving waters. 

Dtslances. — Stations, distances and local fares southward from Cheyenne are 
as follows : 

Cheyenne to ' Mile.?. Pare. 

Colorado Junction 5 $0 65 

Lone Tree 15 75 

Round Butte 23 1 25 

Bristol 32 1 75 

FortCollins 50 2 50 

Loveland - 61 3 10 

Berthoud 69 3 25 

Highland 73 3 C5 

Longmont 78 3 50 

Ni Wot 84 3 60 

Boulder 91 3 75 

Lakeside 94 4 00 

Davidson 98 4 15 

Coal Creek ICO 4 25 

Church's 109 4 75 

Ralston 115 5 00 

Golden 117 5 25 

Ahlstrom's l'"3 5 45 

Arvada 12 i 5 50 

Denver 132 00 

At Colorado Junction, five miles west of Cheyenne, the road turns off squarely 
to the southward and maintains this general direction for over 100 miles. The 
ever-majestic mountains, from five to ten miles distant on the west, furnish an 
almost unending panorama in that direction, while on the east the great sheep 
and cattle ranges stretch to the horizon. Soon after leaving Colorado Junction 
we crossed some of Colorado's most famous antelope country, and by keeping a 
sharp lookout could see the contented animals browsing among the rounded 
hills at almost any time. Large herds of sheep and cattle also here find a favor- 
ite range. In crossing the ridges which border Lone Tree creek, some pretty 
heavy grades are made, but just as we caught a glimpse of the valley of the 
same name, the order was reversed. The descent is easily accomplished, how- 
ever, by the skill of these latter-day railway builders. The road follows up the 
right side of the valley for a short distance, then, by a graceful curve, crosses the 
broad meadows and descends on the opposite side. 

Lone Tree. VnUei/ boasts several of the best sheep, cattle and horse ranches 
to be found along the line. Several prominent business men of Cheyenne are 
engaged in this interest here. Cattle nnd horses are never fed, while sheep re- 



40 TO THE llOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

quire hay only at rare intervals in the winter. The neighboring bluffs not only 
furnish the necessary shelter for stock in winter, but are also the best source for 
food, as their abrupt sides are seldom covered with snow. Antelope are abun- 
dant among the surrounding hills, and wild ducks are always noticeable in the 
creek in spring and autumn. A few days' hunt could ])e pleasantly raiade from 
any of these ranches at less expense for board than one would incur in western 
cities. 

Passing down the valley a few miles, the road again strikes into the grass- 
covered uplands so common between water courses along the foot-hills. The 
small way-stations, Round Butte and Bristol, are quickly passed, the former 
being named after a prominent land mark in its vicinity on the left. 

Duck Hunting. — Three or four miles south of Bristol, near the track, are 
several small lakes which are literally covered with wild geese and ducks during 
the fall and early winter months. Only a few local hunters have ever disturbed 
the water fowl here, and abundant success still awaits the sportsman. A 
farmer near by has thus far about monopolized the business by scattering 
heaps of wheat screenings at points along the shore, attracting immense flocks 
of the birds to certain localities, and then trapping them by an ingeniously ar- 
ranged net. Fort Collins, five miles south, would be the proper rendezvous for 
hunters. 

Cache la Poadre Valley. — One of the very finest rural landscapes of the 
route was presented as we emerged from the last range of hills bordering Cache 
la Poudre Valley on the north. Looking ten miles up the stream on a bright, 
Colorado day, our eyes could almost trace the shadows of its magnificent de- 
bouch from a wild gorge in the Rockies. Eastward, for thirty miles, to its 
junction with the South Platte, is one of the loveliest valleys in all the country. 
It is from five to ten miles wide, and from its rich golden wheat fields on either 
side, slopes down gradually to broad, level meadows, the tall, luxuriant grasses 
of these fringing a stream of remarkable purity and beauty. It is thickly 
studded with excellent farm buildings from the very foot of the mountains to its 
eastern extremity. Over 250,000 bushels of wheat were produced here in 1877. 
Twenty farmers, whose homesteads joined each other, reported an average of 
thirty- three bushels of wheat per acre, and the cases are numerous in which 
from forty to fifty bushels per acre were produced from favored fields. Reliable 
authority places the average yield throughout the entire valley at thirty bushels 
per acre. Extensive flouring mills in the valley work up a large portion of 
the wheat. Irrigation is necessary everywhere. Several very fine dairies are in 
operation near the line of the road, one of these producing a really "gilt-edge " 
quality of butter, and selling the same, by special contract, the year round at 
from thirty-five to forty cents per pound. Breeders of fine blooded sheep have 
also found congenial quarters among the adjacent hills. Wild lands, of which 
there are yet plenty, seU at from four to ten dollars per acre. Improved lands 
at from twenty to forty dollars. All produce finds a very ready sale at Chey- 
enne, Denver and in the mining and lumbering camps in the mountains. 

The great pineries near the head of the stream, twenty miles distant, are 
contributing largely to the lumber supply of Denver, Cheyenne, the Government 
posts, and to the plains country for a distance of a hundred miles down the 
Platte. Two firms employ large gangs of men to cut and float the timber 
to mills located at Greeley, twenty-five miles down the valley. These firms 



42 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

have, in connection with their saw mills, improved apparatus for planing, 
matching and dressing lumber in different ways, and also for the manufacture 
of shingles on a large scale. Over 1,500,000 feet of lumber are thus handled per 
year. Silver has been discovered below the logging camps, a short distance in- 
side the mountains. 

The Upper Cache la Poudre furnishes unexcelled trout fishing, deer and bear 
hunting, and superior scenic attractions. Residents from all of northern Colo- 
rado and southern Wyoming consider this a favorite resort, and during the 
summer months can be found at almost eveiy turn, either camping out in the 
secluded glens or faring more bountifully at the many ranches among the foot- 
hills. Excellent home-cookery, with such items as fresh butter, milk, eggs, 
vegetables, and at some points mountain trout and clean beds, can be enjoyed 
at an average of $1.50 per day. Of camping-out we shall have more to say in 
future pages. 

We made a five days' trip to the head waters of the Cache la Poudre, a httle 
beyond the usual range of tourists, and found a region so wild and so delightful 
for its very solitude that we were loth to leave it. At many points dense pine 
forests would crowd the waters' edge, then suddenly a beautiful park or meadow 
would tempt us to a halt. Scarcely a mile of ascent was accomphshed without 
crossing a swift, clear, spiing-fed brook. Rivers and brooks were fairly swarming 
with trout, and among the mountams on either side elk and deer betrayed their 
presence almost hourly. Though the altitude is great — about 8,500 feet — 
some of the most tempting sites imaginable for ranches were found at many 
points. The growth of wild fruits — especially the strawberry and gooseberry — 
the flowers and grasses furnished endless surprise. At an elevation of 9,000 
feet, where plenty of snow was yet found (in June) in some of the gulches, we 
found a stock ranch where a large herd of fat cattle attested the value of the 
native grasses. The owner informed us that he had taken little pains to feed or 
shelter the animals in winter, even at this altitude. 

Fort Collins — Is located on the south-side of the Cache la Poudre, distant 
from Cheyenne 50 miles, and having an elevation above sea level of 4,815 feet. It 
is the county seat of Larimer county, and the principal trading point in the upper 
end of the valley. Population, 700. Has a bank, newspaper, two good hotels, 
extensive flouring mills, etc. Among the points of interest for the tourist are 
Rists Cache la Poudre and' Moore Canons, distant from six to ten miles. The 
Cache la Poudre here affords a superb water-power. Fort Collins is general 
headquarters for hunters and tourists. Duck-hunting is always good up or down 
the river; a single hunter of our acquaintance having killed nearly 300 of the 
mallard and other varieties during a two weeks' sojourn in the fall of 1877. The 
completion of the Colorado Central Railway has served to give the town and 
vaUey new life, and evidences of increased prosperity are already apparent in 
the numerous improvements in vogue. Among the railway company's improve- 
ments here will be noticed a large and handsome brick passenger and freight 
depot. 

Water-tanks. — Passengers almost invariably note a peculiarity of the hand- 
some brick and frame water-tanks which are found by the side of nearly every 
mountain stream en route. No pump, windmill or pipe is apparent, but the 
purest of mountain water pours into the tender at almost every halt. The 
rapid fall of the streams has been utilized by tapping them half a mile above 



"the AMERICAN" SWITZERLAND." 43 

the track, laying iron pipes beneath the ground and carrying the water along 
until sufficient "head" has been gained, when the pipe is turned upward 
into the tank on the principal of a syphon. The pipes are below the freezing 
line, and are therefore, always on duty, while the amount of water in the tank 
is regulated by a suitable ' ' escape- ' ' 

Rapid Settlement. — The advent of the railroad here, as elsewhere, has stimu- 
lated settlement and development to a marked degree. The rich and more con- 
Tenientiy irrigated valley lands were put under cultivation ten or a dozen years 
ago, while the warm, sandy uplands went begging. It has been demonstrated 
in the last few years that these uplands give the most reliable and wonderful 
yields of wheat, and during the past fall and winter they have been taken up or 
purchased on every hand. As we fairly left the valley of the Cache la Poudre, 
we found hundreds of these new homesteads, many of them plowed up and 
built upon during the first few months after the iron horse sounded his greeting. 
It is estimated that the acreage of wheat will be easily increased one-third 
during 1878, and that the yield in the four great wheat counties bordering the 
Colorado Central railway will not fall short of 1,600,000 bushels. Remembering 
that we were in the garden spot of Colorado, that nearly every acre of all that 
grand region will be rendered abundantly productive, and that not half the 
area has yet been utilized, we cannot but think of the wealth of possibility in 
store. 

Loveland. — Distance from Cheyenne, 61 miles; altitude, about 4,800 feet. 
Loveland was founded during the building of the road, and was named in honor 
of the president of the company. It is located on the broad and level bench 
lands on the north side of Big Thompson river. Forty-five bushels of wheat 
per acre were produced last season on the ground now occupied by the fine brick 
depot, and from the plat since partially laid out as a town- site were hai-vested 
nearly 10,000 bushels, just as the graders of the Colorado Central were ready to 
sink their spades. '' Uncle Davy Barnes," known all over Colorado as a pioneer, 
owned the 200 acres which produced this handsome yield, and his crop receipts 
for the season enabled him to build an extensive grist-mill on the river-bank 
near by. The town consists of several handsome brick business houses and a 
dozen lesser frame buildings, and draws its support from the thickly settled Big 
Thompson Valley. The pretty little village of St. Louis is located a mile below 
in the same valley. Big Thompson Valley has always been noted for the ex- 
cellence of its crops, these embracing wheat, oats, barley, all hardy kinds of 
vegetables, and the small-eared varieties of corn. The principal features of 
valley, stream and soil, are identical with those of the Cache la Poudre. 

Estes P«rA'.— Rapidly growing into favor as a pleasure resort, and a nook 
now destined to leap to the front rank, is Estes Park, twenty-five miles west of 
Loveland, at the northeast base of Long's Peak. The first ten miles of the 
wagon road thither is first-class, and the remainder, with improvements to be 
put upon it early in 1878, will be one of the most charming mountain highways 
in the Rockies. Stages will commence regular trips early in the season. The 
Park is a beautiful little mountain- locked basin, 9,000 feet above the sea, its 
surface composed of meadows and groves, with here and there the prettiest trout 
brooks imaginable. "Camping out" can here be enjoyed to the utmost. As 
one visitor says it is " replete with grassy slopes, crystalline streams that course 
down from the melting snow-banks, broad zones of pine forests, towering 



44 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

heights of mountains and shady nooks. It is just such a resort as the sportsman 
dehghts in, or the tourist loves to frequent. The streams are filled with trout; 
the pines abound with noble game." The ascent of Long's Peak, 14,271 feet 
above the sea, can best be made from here, and is in itself an episode worth a 
visit to Colorado. The great gorge leading from the Park into the heart of the 
mountain, with vertical walls of 3,000 feet, is one of the awe-inspiring 
attractions. 

No wonder that haughty Englishman, the Earl of Dunraven, has been 
working so pei'sistently to establish his title to twenty or thirty thousand of the 
best acres of Estes Park. With its battlements that would have crazed a Roman 
conqueror; its forest homes of the elk and deer; its streams that vie with 
Scotland's purest, and its thousand acre gardens of richest grasses and most 
delicate flowers — we say with all these and much more, can a British earl be 
blamed for coveting it? A European lord of the sixteenth century would have 
sacrificed half of his most trusty followers in the gaining of such magnificent 
possess ons and thought his conquest cheap at that. 

The McGregor House, an excellent mountain hostelry, is located in the Park, 
as well as lesser institutions of this class. Board can be obtained at from $1.50 
to $3.50 p T day. The only stage line heretofore entering the Park was from 
Longmont, but Loveland's accessibility, as already noted, will lead to increased 
facilities of entry from that point, in time for the travel of 1878. 

Great Irrigating Enterprise. — As we journeyed southward from Loveland, we- 
crossed the broad dividing plateau lying between the Big and Little Thompsons. 
This country is ranked among the best for farming in the State, but suffers 
from having no adequate irrigating facilities. A project is now well under way^ 
however, which will remove this drawback. A canal twenty-five feet wide and 
three feet deep is to be constructed froui a point on the Big Thompson, just 
inside the mountains, out over this divide, and thus throw thousands of pro- 
ductive acres of high lands open to settlement. 

Berihoud. — Descending again we crossed Little Thompson valley at Ber- 
thoud, 69 miles on our way from the Union Pacific. The station is new, like all 
other features of the road, and was named in honor of Captain Berthoud, the 
well known chief engineer of the Colorado Central. The valley of the Little 
Thompson is less extensive than those of its neighboring streams and the atten- 
tion of settlers has thus far been mainly given to stock raising. The breeding 
of blooded horses, cattle and sheep is the favorite branch of business there. 
The valley is always represented at the State Fair with fine roadsters. Shorthorn 
cattle and Merino sheep, and selections from these flocks and herds are being 
rapidly introduced into the best stock ranches of the west. 

View of the Mountains. — We enjoyed an ever changing vista of the Rocky 
Mountains from the first, as our course was parallel with them and only from, 
five to ten miles away. But while sweeping over the high divide between the 
Little Thompson and St. Vrain we were more than ever impressed with their 
majesty and grandeur. Long's Peak, well named the " American Matterhom," 
seemed but a pleasant hour's walk away, while Gray's Peak and Pike's Peak — 
all nearly as high as Mt. Blanc — furnished fitting limit to the view 100 miles 
south and 75 miles west. We passed this point of glorious review late in the 
afternoon, when the setting sun tinged the long expanse of snowy crests with 
royal purple and the richest tints of carmine; even the rugged sides and depths 



4(5 TO THli KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

and verdure of the lower ranges were brought to our vision with indescribable- 
beauty and clearness. Long after the day-god had dropped behind the curtain 
which veils a continent, the sky was touched with tints which art can never 
copy. Verily, a sunset in the Rocky Mountains can never be reproduced, either 
in art here or in nature elsewhere. 

Longmonf — 78 miles, a thriving village of 700 inhabitants, in the beautiful 
St. Vrain Valley. Altitude, 4,957 feet. The name of the town was suggested 
by its majestic sentinel, Long's Peak, while the creek, whose crystal waters flow 
through every street, is inseparably connected in history with the veteran 
explorer and trader, Colonel St. Vrain. One of the Colonel's first fur-trading 
posts was Fort St. Vrain, located some twenty miles below and occupied more 
than forty years ago, when Fort Pierre, on the Missouri river, was the nearest 
similar refuge for the adventurous spirits of the Northwestern fur companies. 
Longmont boasts three flouring mills, two hotels, two weekly newspapers, a 
bank, and other necessary adjuncts to the well being of a thrifty out west town. 
Through the liberality of the railway managers and the enterprise of local deal- 
ers in produce the town has been rendered quite an important shipping point. 
Thousands of tons of hay and grain from St. Vrain and Left Hand valleys are 
being shipped to Denver and the mountain towns. TJiirty thousand bushels of 
wheat were raised in the vicinity and marketed there the past season. There is 
a tri- weekly stage line from there to Estes Park. Distance, 32 miles; fare $5. 
Several lakes in the vicinity afford excellent duck-hunting and the upper St. 
Vrain, fifteen miles distant, is noted for its trout. 

The mountains now seemed to make their sharpest curve to the southeast, 
and as we whirled across the valley of St. Vrain and Left Hand, toward Boulder, 
we pointed straight for them. Ni "Wot, 84 miles, is a small station for the 
convenience of the thickly settled agricultural districts thereabouts. Seven 
miles more across this fertile continuation of Colorado's wheat granary, right 
under the shadow of the rocky cliffs and we were at 

Boulder — 91 miles; elevation, 5,536 feet; population 3,000. Boulder bids 
fair to rank third if not second in the list of Colorado's cities. The city now 
holds within its ambitious grasp the combined commerce of valley and mountain 
for many miles. Within a radius of twenty miles are the thickly settled farm- 
ing regions of North and South Boulder creek. Left Hand and St. Vrain 
creeks; the great silver mines of Caribou and Nederland; the gold mines 
of Gold Hill I Sunshine, Tellurium, Salina, Magnolia, Jamestown, Sugar 
Loaf, Left Hand and other districts, and the Erie, Davidson, Marshall, 
Barber and half a dozen other coal deposits. Large deposits of iron ore of 
good grade are also found in sight of the city. These are all made thoroughlj- 
tributary to Boulder by a splendid system of wagon roads and stage lines pro- 
vided by her sagacious citizens. Her grand cafion is simply a mountain gate- 
way at the entrance of which all these interests concentrate. 

Boulder has two railroads, with a third in course of construction, two tele- 
graph lines, three good hotels, two newspapers, smelting works, two flouring 
mills, two national banks, a fine system of water works and the Colorado State 
University. The latterwas completed two years ago costing $40,000. Its dimen- 
sions are 97x112 feet, four stories high. It occupies a commanding position in 
full view of our road on an eminence south of the city. Unexcelled water power, 
abundance of fuel and other auxiliaries combine to render Boulder a splendid 



48 TO THE ROCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

field for manufacturing enterprise. Already the principal fork of the creek ia 
strung with mills, smelters, crushers and concentrating works far up into the 
mountains. But the supply of ores from the mineral belts above and of wheat 
from the fertile valleys below overflows these and is to a large extent carried to 
other points. Indicating the amount of travel and business here it may be 
stated that the two principal hotels registered 15,000 arrivals during 1877; one 
bank does an exchange business of $500,000 per annum; the post office issued 
and paid money orders amounting to over $50,000 and handled 500,000 mes- 
sages in 1877. Annual faii-s are held here in the interest of agriculture, stock- 
raising and kindred pursuits. 

Boulder county is third on the list in the State in the amount of taxable 
wealth possessed. The total valuation for 1877 was $3,152,260; acres assessable, 
110,151; wheat raised, 500,000 bushels; hay, 30,000 tons; average yield of wheat 
per acre, 30 bushels; average yield of each acre cultivated, $30; total value of 
farm crops for the year $1,800,000; estimated yield of mines, $800,000. 
The officials in making this report add that only one-third of the agricultural 
area, of the county is utilized. The value of manufactured articles is placed at 
$500,000. Only claiming a population of 12,000 Boulder county, therefore, pro- 
duces an average of over $250 for every man, iroman and child within her bor- 
ders. What community of producers in the east can make such a showing? 
Indicating social culture is the item that the citizens are taxed over $20,000 for 
musical instruments, and Boulder county is but a fair average of the others whose 
resources, progress and attractions are linked inseparably with the history and 
stimulating influence of the Colorado Central Railway. 

The Mines. — Among the hundreds of rich mines which are tributary and 
send their treasure down through Boulder are the "American," gold, at Sun- 
shine, 5 miles distant, yield in 1876 and 1877 $230,000; "John Jay," gold, on 
Jim creek, 13 miles distant, yield for the past twenty-two months $70,000; 
" Melvina," gold, 9 miles, yield $138,000 in twenty-eight months; " Ni Wot," 
gold, in Ward district, 25 miles, has turned out $500,000; " Caribou," silver, at 
Caribou, 22 miles, has produced nearly $1,000,000 and sold for $3,000,000 to 
German capitalists a few years ago; "No Name" and "Sherman," Caribou, 
silver, have produced $250,000. The ores of Boulder county mines are essen- 
tially " high grade " and yields of special lots have often been enormous. For 
instance, the " Melvina " ships small lots of ore nearly every month which yield 
from $5,000 to $14,000 per ton. The average yield of all the ore sold has been 
28 cents per pound. The visitor can step into Church's sampling and crushing 
works at Boulder, almost any day, and see ore from the "Smuggler" which 
yields ^re dollars per pound in gold. Ore from the " John Jay " has averaged 
$1,000 per ton for the past six months. "American" ore assays all the way 
from $100 to $100,000 per ton, and one lot of five tons shipped to the Omaha 
Smelting Works yielded $27,500 to the owners of the mine. 

The coal mines of Boulder county are of great extent and value, and have 
yielded over 100,000 tons the past year. The product is entirely bituminous, 
selling at Boulder at $2 to $3 per ton. Miners get from 75 cents to $1.15 per 
ton for mining. 

Distances, Rates, Altitudes, etc. — Following are prominent points tributary to 
Boulder, with their altitudes above sea level, distance from the city and modes 
and expense of reaching them: 



"THE AMERICAN SWITZERLAND." 49 

Boulder to Miles. Altitudes. Conveyance. Fare. 

Boulder Falls, Boulder Canon 10 G,800 Tri- weekly stage. $1.50 

Bear Canon 4 5,600 * 

Caribou 23 9,200 Tri-weekly stage. 3.50 

Estes Park 35 8,000 Semi-weekly " 5.0C 

Gold Hill 10 7,100 Daily " 1.50 

Gold Lake 15 8,000 * 

Hot Springs, Middle Park 63 8,000 * 

Springilale, Seltzer Springs 12 6,200 Tri-weekly stage. 2.00 

Long's Peak 45 14,252 * 

Magnolia 8 6,500 Daily " 1.25 

Nederland 18 8.800 Tri-weekly " 3.00 

Kollinsville 23 8,000 " " 3.50 

Sunshine 5 6,500 Daily " 1.00 

Sugar Loaf 10 8,500 " " 1.50 

Salina 9 0,400 " " 1.40 

Health and Pleasure Resorts. — Boulder and vicinity are prolific in these. 
Down the valley, within a radius of ten miles, are dozens of pretty lakes which 
are the favorite resort of geese, ducks and brant. Half a day's drive, over 
smooth valley roads, will take the sportsman to four or five of these, and land 
him back at his hotel door, with his game pouch full, if he is anything of an 
expert. Among the mountains back of the city, bear, deer and grouse abound, 
while liigh up the streams mountain trout are ever ready to tempt the angler. 
The principal mineral waters are at Springdale on James creek, 12 miles distant, 
at an altitude of 6,120 feet. The drive is one of the finest in Colorado, the loca- 
tion of the Springs a perfect little gem of loveliness in the midst of rich mines, 
and hotel accommodations are first-class at the moderate price of $2 per day. 
The water bubbles from the bottom of a large basin in the solid rock, is a lively, 
sparkling seltzer, highly recommended for scrofula, dyspeptic and blood disorders 

and of the following component parts : 

J Grains. 

Sulphate of soda 129.12 

Carbonic of lime-bi-carbonate in the water 52.00 

Chloride of sodium 5.96 

Iodide and bromide of sodium 1.56 

Bi-carbonate of soda 6.56 

Bi-carbonate of iron 4.80 

Bi-carbonate of magnesia 80 

Silicate of soda in the water 4.80 



Weight of contents of one gallon • - 205.60 

The drives are numbered by dozens and compass every phase jf mountain 
and plainland scenery. Of course no visitor would miss Boulder Canon, for that 
is to Colorado what the Yo Semite is to California. A famous writer says : " We 
have read of Alpine scenery and of the Yosemite Valley, and have seen Niagara 
Falls, Delaware Water Gap and the passage of the Potomac through the Blue 
Ridge, and we pronounce them all as tame and common-place when compared 
with the scenery of this wonderful caiion." Entering the canon just above 
the city the road for miles winds in and out, at times overhanging the stream, 
then crossing by primitive bridges and on and up the magnificent rocky opening. 
Here the walls running up majestically 2,000 feet, there a stretch of flower- 
decked roadside, below always the crystal stream, foaming and leaping from 

♦Private conveyance; carriage hire, single team, $5.00 per day; double, $8.00. 
4 



50 TO THE ROCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

shelf to shelf in its hurry to reach the plain. The eye never tires of this infinite 
variety and blending of rocks and dell, refreshing foliage and inviting gorges. 
Ten miles up are the Falls, and no tourist should stop short of these. The water 
drops some forty or fifty feet from the shelving rock into a deep, narrow pool, 
presenting amid the giant buttresses on either side a charming sight. This ride 
can be made in half a day, if the visitor is hun-ied, or can be extended indefi- 
nitely up to the mining camps near Nederland and Caribou, and on over to 
Middle park, if desired, as an excellent mountain roadway is laid thither. 
Stages pass the Falls daily in summer; fare up and back, $2.50. 

A fine two-days' ride is from Boulder to the Sunshine gold mines — through 
pine-covered foot-hills and along the sparkling Gold Run — 6 miles; to Gold 
Hill and Gold Lake — a grand climb among rich mines and to one of the pretti- 
est sheets of water in the Rockies — 10 miles ; to Camp Providence — location of 
the John Jay mine — 6 miles; to Jamestown, down James Creek, 4 miles; to 
Springdale — location of the celebrated Seltzer Springs and Big Blossom mine 
— 2 miles; return to Boulder over Buckingham's toll road, 14 miles; total, 42 
miles. Springdale would be the best point to remain at over night. This jaunt 
covers the richest mining region, and the choicest mountain as well as valley 
views. 

Or for parts of a day go to Sunshine, 6 miles; Gold Hill, 3; Salina, 3; return 
to Boulder through Boulder Canon, 9; total, 21 miles. Another favorite route 
is from Boulder into Bear Canon — a charming piece of scenery — to the 
mines of Magnolia District, 11 miles; return down through Boulder Canon, 8 
miles; total, 19. 

Board at Boulder is $2 to $3 per day, and at all mountain towns adjacent 
will average |2 per day. Toll on mountain roads will average $3 per day, and, 
as before stated, outside rates on livery teams are $5 and $8. A first-class 
omnibus line transfers passengers from all trains. 

Resuming the journey we passed Lakeside, 94 miles, named from a lake on 
the left of the road; Davidson, 98 miles, the principal coal mining town on the 
line; Coal Creek, 100 miles; Church's, 109; Ralston, 115; all simply sidings 
for the accommodation of local trade and the large freight trafiic. Two miles 
west of Ralston are the Ralston Coal Mines. Unlike most other western coal 
deposits, these veins are vertical. In the two mines it is estimated that over 
6,000,000 tons of a fair quality of soft coal are "in sight." A narrow gauge 
railway, connecting the mines with the Colorado Central, is in course of con- 
struction. 

Golden. — One hundred and seventeen mUes; altitude, 5,729 feet; is the 
county seat of Jefterson county, and claims a population of 3,000. Golden is 
already called the " Colorado Birmingham " from its favorite situation for man- 
ufacturing and its rapid progress in that line. The city lies just within the first 
foot-hills, 15 miles west of Denver, Springing from the mouth of one of the 
grandest of canons, three-fourths of a mile above the city proper and flowing 
through the heart of the town, is Clear Creek. For the first mile of its course 
after leaving the mountains the stream falls some 75 feet, and as the volume of 
water exceeds that of any other stream in northern Colorado, except that of the 
Platte, it furnishes a degree of power that can scarcely be calculated, much less 
fully utilized. 

Both sides of the stream are already strung with busy wheels. We first 



T>2 TO Till-; KOCKIES AND Ui:VUNI). 

noticed the extensive shops of Lhe Colorado Central Railway, which cover several 
acres of ground, and are being rapidly enlarged. Here pa^senger and Ireight 
cars are built, engines rebuilt, and every tipeties of railroad repairing i\ccom- 
plishcd. A short distance south of these are the Golden Snjeliiug Work-, out- 
growths of the great mining industry in the mountains above, which turned 
out $300,000 in gold and silver during 1877. Ciose at hand are works engaged 
in smelthig copper from the valuable copper mines located H miles south of 
Golden, on Bear Creek. These works treat six tons of copper ore per day, 
obtaining therefrom 10 per cent of copper and an average of 30 ounces of silver 
per ton. Farther up the stream, in the heart of the city, are three large flour- 
ing mills, which turn out 30,000 sacks of flour per annum. The extensive 
buildings of the Golden Paper Works — the only institution of the kind between 
Omaha and Salt Lake City — are next noticed. The mills, run by water power, 
supply the newspapers of the State and show a business of $25,000 per year. 

Two companies are engaged in manufacturing fire-br ck, tile and pottery 
from the superior clay found near by. The Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific 
railways, the Rolling Mills at Laramie City, and Prof. Hill's Smelting Works, 
at Black Hawk, obtain their tiles, fire brick and dimension brick from this 
source, while miscellaneous orders are constantly received from points as far 
east as St. Louis, and west to the Pacific ocean. Half a million fire brick and one 
jmillion red brick were produced during 1877. Fire brick sell at $50 per 1,000 
,for first quality, and $35 for second. The Trenton Smelting and Dressing 
Works is a very extensive establishment, in the upper part of the city, for the 
treatment of gold and silver ores; capital, $150,000; capacity, 10 tons per day. 
A New Jersey company is at the helm and has bright prospects before it, as 
thousands of tons of ore await treatment in the diflferent mining camps from 20 
to 40 miles above. Then there are planing mills, breweries, a foundry, etc., all 
combined, rendering Golden not only a very impoiiant and productive center, 
but an interesting one for the tourist as well. 

Besides the copper mines already noted, there are within the limits of the 
town three coal banks, which are being placed in condition to easily yield 400 
tons of coal per day, and splendid deposits of hematite of iron and magnetic 
iron in sight of the city. What has been said of Boulder in connection with the 
mining interests is especially applicable to Golden. The mines of Gilpin and 
Clear Creek counties, which have furnished three-fourths of all Colorado's gold 
and silver yield, have no other outlet or transfer point, and through imperative 
freaks of nature, they never can have. Clear Creek Canon has proved a giant 
causeway, through which millions of treasure have been poured, as well as a 
mighty and wonderful chasm to be sought and admired by the travelers of two 
■hemispheres. 

The general offices of the Colorado Central Railway are located at Golden, 
and here the narrow gauge divisions branch off to the mountains. The main 
line continues its course onward to Denver, while, as a matter of convenience for 
southern travel and shipments, an additional narrow gauge division is being 
constructed south to Acequia, on the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, some 16 
miles distant. Jarvis Hall, Colorado's most notable college for young men, is 
located here. The institution has numbered among its pupils residents of many 
different states and territories, and gains ground in popular favor eveiy day. It 
is noticed that youth of the east, who from their delicate organism and tendency 



54 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

to disease, cannot, in those latitudes, endure the sedentary life necessary to the 
acquirement of an education, here prosecute their studies and gain a new lease 
ot life at the same time. This atmosphere, itself a tonic, this almost perpetual 
sunshine, and these exhilarating walks in Nature's charming by-ways, tell the 
whole story. The State School of Mines is also located here. 

Among the most pleasant drives are those to Bergen Park, a lovely little basin 
near Bear Creek Canon, where trout, wild flowers and shaded picnic gi'ounds 
are leading attractions, 8 miles; to Brookvale, well up in the mountains, where 
will be found good fishing and nice hotel accommodations, 12 miles; Cresswell, 
a ride abounding in beautiful valley and mountain landscapes, 6 miles; "Table 
Rock" is a prominent attraction in the immediate vicinity, rising nearly 1,000 feet 
above the town on the east. 

INTO THE AMERICAN SWITZERLAND. 

Clear Creek Cailon. — Of course one of our principal objects in visiting Col- 
orado was to explore the wonders of Clear Creek Canon and to dive into the 
mysteries of the gold and silver mines beyond. So at Golden we entered the 
neat and cosy little carriages of the throe-feet gauge and commenced the really 
novel part of an interesting journey. Go with us, reader, on this exciting climb, 
and enjoy the richest two hours feast afforded on any railroad track in the world. 
The ascent commences at once, and soon we reach the narrow opening which 
constitutes the mouth of the canon. Lofty foot-hills, covered with stunted pines 
and jutting rocks, crowd close on either side. In a moment these are lost in the 
mightiest mountain walls themselves. Across the sti-eam and a hundred feet 
above it, clinging to the bare and vertical rocks by a net-work of clever timber- 
ing, is one of the flumes carrying fertility to the thirsty soils of the valley. We 
follow the foaming, leaping torrent constantly, for we are now between unbroken 
buttresses rising 2,000 feet above, and forbidding all thought of deviation. 

Sometimes the stream almost eddies against our track; sometimes we look 
upon it far below, but still beating our stony parapet. Tlien we cross and re- 
cross until we are bewildered, and try in vain to believe ourselves going only 
toward the setting sun. Straight track is unknown. We are on a highway of 
short tangents, of innumerable short curves. One instant an apparently solid 
wall runs to the clouds across our track, but in the next we are twisting sharply 
around or under it, our cars creaking with the strain. At times a path has 
been blasted from the mountain sides for oUr little railway, and the fallen frag- 
ments of granite have turned the stream or thrown its current into a hundred 
fantastic cataracts and eddies. Steadily we climb at the rate of 170 feet to the 
mile, ever-chanoing pictures of rarest beauty breaking upon the vision. The 
frowning rocks grow more terribly sublime, their height increasing and the chasm 
at times narrowiner until the eye can scarcely scale the summits from the car 
window. The deep green foliage of the pine is rarely absent, the trees striking 
root in every cleft and in every grotto. This presents constant striking contrasts 
to the sombre gray and brown of the rocks. The roadway could not be more 
attractive or secure, for it is carved out of the solid rock, or else where it has 
been crowded into the stream the ties are imbedded in masonry. The bridges 
are built of iron; the station houses at places hang over the thundering stream 
by a system of architecture peculiarly their own. 



"THE AMERICAN SWITZERLAND." 55 

We pass under hanging rock and can touch the wall on one side from the 
platform. " Mother Grundy, " far up on the beetling crags, seems ready to gos- 
sip on this grand achievement of railway engineering, and Nature has chiseled 
her out enduringly. Eight miles from Golden is the romantic station of 

Beaver Brook. — A mountain brooklet of the same name here finds access to 
the creek through a deep gorge and by a series of pretty cascades. Up to the 
left, on a cliff overlooking the track, is a dancing and picnic pavilion. It is 
reached by a long staircase from the other gorge, and is a favorite resort for 
Denver pleasure- seekers. On moonlight summer evenings the canon walls are 
made to echo with music and laughter from this wild and curious eyrie. Fra- 
grant flowers and beautiful ferns abound here, clinging to the crevices in the 
rocks and enlivening Beaver Gulch. 

The Law of Exchange. — We pass a heavily loaded freight on its way to the 
mines and mills. Soon after we meet one equally heavily laden speeding to the 
valley by the simple power of gravitation. Let us see what they caiTy. The 
one ascending has among other items a car-load of salt, from Great Salt Lake, 
which came via the Union Pacific all this distance, and is now being takes to 
the great smelting works above, to perform its part in separating the metals 
from the ore. " Another car bears hay from valley meadows to mountain 
stables. Mule-power is a grand lever up there, and can't be perpetuated with- 
out hay. Then there is an immense steam engine and mining machinery occu- 
pying another car. There will be thousands more before the ore channels are 
all developed, for mining is in its infancy here. Other cars are loaded with tons 
of flour, beef, groceries, vegetables and mining supplies of every nature. And 
this is only one train. Sometimes there are two or three a day, and this con- 
tinues every day in the year, for mining communities produce only gold and sil- 
ver. Everything else must go to them through this narrow and ever-beautiful 
pathway. 

Coming down on the other train there was what ? Gold from Central ! Sil- 
ver from Georgeiown! Here was business on a specie basis, sure enough, and 
the simplicity of the transaction renders comment unnecessary. 

A few miles above Beaver Brook the north and south forks of Clear Creek 
unite. One comes from the rich gold mining x-egions of Black Hawk and Cen- 
tral, the other from silver-crowned Georgetown. To penetrate and develop 
Colorado's two greatest mineral belts the railway has been extended up both of 
these canons, past the mills and over and into the very mines themselves. "Forks 
Creek" is, therefore, quite an important junction, much freight business con- 
solidating here, and no little passenger travel changing from one line to the 
other. We have taken the train for Central, and so pass up the north fork. 

The Gulch Mines. — We are now in the very heart of the Rocky Mountains, 
where the giant barriers break away and assume new form and texture. Down 
below us are the gulches where, from 1859 to 1865, surged the feverish thou- 
sands, and where the yields of "dust" were reckoned in millions. Since that 
the gravel has been worked over many times, and it is estimated yet that 
almost as much gold has been lost as has ever been saved. As the gi'ound be- 
comes too "lean" for the average miner the Chinaman steps in and makes from 
one to three dollars per day. We can see large gangs of the Celestials at work, 
and have an opportunity of studying gulch mining practically. 

Smelting Works. — Just before entering Black Hawk we notice, on the right, 



56 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the Boston and Colorado Smelting Works. These are among the most exten- 
sive in the United States, and will well repay half a day's examination. They 
were established to treat gold ore in 1867, and with improvements since made 
the buildings cover five acres of ground. A capital of nearly $1,000,000 is con- 
stantly employed. Seventeen furnaces are in constant operation, smelting sixty 
tons of ore daily, at an expense of over $500 per day for fuel and labor alone. 
The smelting of silver ores was not undertaken until in 1873. Since that period 
eighty-five tons of pure silver have been sent from the works. The product, in 
silver and gold, since the first, has been as follows : 

1868 $ 270,886 

1869 489,875 

1870 652,339 

1871 848.571 

1872 999,954 

1878 1,210,670 

1874 1,638.877 

1875 1,947,000 

1876 1,995,000- 

1877 2,154,000 

Total $13,207,16^ 

THE GREAT GOLD REGION. 

Twenty- two hundred feet above our point of entrance at the caiion, and 
twenty-two miles from Golden, is Black Hawk. A mile farther up is Central, 
and for twomiles up the gulch from the latter place is an almost unbroken line 
of mining towns and mining enterprises. The first sight of these mountain, 
towns is not easily forgotten. Far up the giddy slopes hang cottages seem- 
ingly ready to topple one upon another. In the ravines below are busy, bustling- 
streets, lined with quartz teams and all manner of vehicles. Frank Fosset, 
Esq., of Central, describes the scene in this manner: "A main thoroughfare 
three miles in length winds among these granite hills, whose interiors are 
honey-combed with shafts, levels and tunnels. Beside the muddy stream lofty 
chimneys of huge smelting works are always burning. Beyond are stamp mills, 
whose stamps thunder with never-ceasing industry. Night and day the same- 
work goes on unintermittingly, week after week, year after year. Down in the- 
depths, hundreds of feet from the sunlight, are other cities, less habitable but. 
equally active. Here, by the dim candle light, hundreds of men wield the drill, 
pick and shovel, delving for the hidden wealth of centuries. These mines be- 
neath the city help to swell the millions that steadily find their way into the- 
channels of commerce." 

Although one of the smallest counties, Gilpin (covering the mining region) 
has furnished half of the mineral yield of the state and is increasing its produc- 
tion yearly. The mineral belt here is about ten miles wide, extending into 
neighboring counties. The production in gold and silver, up to the present, has- 
been as follows: 



58 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

Pi-evions to 1870 $25,000,000 

For 1870 ] .267.900 

" 1871 1.378,100 

" 1872 1.389,289 

" 1873 1.440.502 

" 1874 1,695.804 

" 1875 2,010,391 

" 1876 2.135,000 

" 1877 2,300,000 

Total for Gilpin county in 19 years $38,610,986 

Eighteen quartz mills are at present at work, turning out about $5,000 in 
gold daily. Among the principal mines are the "Gregory," depth 900 feet, 
total yield 19,000,000; "Bobtail," 650 feet, yield $4,000,000; "Gunnell," 650 
feet, yield $2,500,000; "Burroughs," 1,000 feet, yield $1,500,000; "Kansas," 690 
feet, yield $1,500,000. There are many others which have produced all the way 
from $500,000 to $1,000,000. In 1877 there were less than 1,500 men engaged 
in mining, milling and kindred pursuits, and their production amounted to 
^2,300,000, or over $1,500 for every man engaged. The prosperity has really just 
commenced. It is as enduring as the hills, and with the excellent facilities 
now afforded for transportation by the Colorado Central Railway must soon in- 
crease many fold. Mining has developed from chance and guess work into a 
grand science. The ore channels are as numerous as the veins on our hands. 
They were never richer, never in such trim to yield the royal metals as to-day. 

These towns combined have a population of about 5,000, Central being the 
county-seat and the acknowledged center of trade. It is solidly built of brick 
and stone, contains three banks, the Teller House — one of the finest hotels in 
Colorado — two daily newspapers and a fine institution of learning. Altitude, 
8,389 feet. 

Railroading Anion fj the Mines. — Leaving Black Hawk, our track runs up the 
right side of the gulch among the mills and past the open mouths of mining 
tunnels. Reaching Bates Hill we turn quickly to the left, leap the two princi- 
pal streets of the city on a splendid iron bridge, and by sevei-al " tangents," at a 
heavy grade, soon find ourselves 500 feet above the bustling streets and busy 
mills, pushing steadily across rich mineral veins for Central. We cross the 
famous Gregory, Briggs and Bobtail mines, which are now producing $50,000 per 
month in gold. We have only a mile and a half of actual distance to make, 
but travel four miles in order to surmount the wonderful grade. Clinging to 
the rugged sides of Mammoth Hill, overlooking the entire gulch, we have a 
view of snowy peaks, pine-covered mountains, mining enterprises and cities 
which leaves a life-time impress. James Peak, with its glittering summit of 
snow and ice, stands a fitting sentinel over all. From Central the road is to be 
extended at once to the silver mines of Caribou, eighteen miles distant. This 
extension will pass through some heavy forest and along the best mineral veins. 
The forest is quite an item, as timber is a great desideratum in mining, and is 
very scarce at these points. Indicating the present business of the road is the 
item that about 30,000 tons of freight are received by it at Black Hawk 
annually. 

Points for the Tourist. — A week can always be spent profitably and 
pleasantly among the mines and mills. To learn how the ore is mined and how 



CO TO TIIK ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the gold is separated from it, are the first items thought of. Then ride out to 
Jaraes and Buel Peaks, ten miles, where views of half of Colorado can be 
obtained, and where the prettiest lakes lie high up among the summits, with 
their settings of gigantic walls and towering pines. Bellevue and Bald 
Mountains, 2% and 1% miles, respectively, are admired localities, and can easily 
be visited together in half a day. The shortest trail to Hot Springs, Middle 
Park, is from Central via James Peak, distance 44 miles. First-class hotels at 
Central, $4 per day; carriage hire, $8 to |12. 

Instead of returning to the Forks of the Creek and going from thence up to 
Idaho Springs and Georgetown by rail, we took a carriage through the noted 
Virginia canon to Idaho, 6 miles. En route are fine views of the snowy range, 
and the trip down Virginia canon is one of the most enjoyable on the line. 
Much of the descent is at the rate of 600 feet to the mile, but the roadway is 
everywhere in excellent trim. 

Idaho Springs. — A lovely watering place in the valley of South Clear Creek, 
34 miles from Denver by rail. Elevation, 7,800 feet. The village contains some 
500 inhabitants, whose principal occupation is mining; the gulches here still 
yielding abundantly, and a number of good quartz mines being vigorously 
worked. The locality is not only greatly favored as a summer resort, but 
captivates many to prolonged winter sojourns. The delightful coolness of sum- 
mer nights is always noted, and the clear, sunny days of v/inter woo visitors to 
the open air almost constantly. The valley is here shelteretl by several very 
high and noted landmarks, the " Old Chief," " Squaw " and " Papoose " being 
among the number, and lifting their heads from 10,000 to 11,000 feet above the 
sea. The famous Soda Springs, however, are the grand attraction. There are 
eight of these, ranging in temperature from 60 to 110 degrees. Two large 
swimming baths, and numerous smaller apartments for hot and cold shower 
baths are at hand, with such convenient features as dressmg rooms, waiting 
rooms, etc. Following is an analysis of these waters, the constituents being 
from one gallon : 

Carbonate of Soda SO.SO 

Carbonate of Lime 9.53 

Carbonate of Magnesia ■ . . . . 2.88 

Carbonate of Iron 4.13 

Sulphate of Soda 29.36 

Sulphate of Magnesia 18.73 

Sulphate of Lime 3.44 

Chloride of Sodium 4.16 

Chlorides of Cilciuin and Magnpsimn, of each a trace. 

Silicate of Soda 4.08 

Grains 107.08 

Cold mineral springs are also found near by, the waters of one being 
especially effervescont and sparkling. Soda, iron and sulphur seem to be 
present in these. The medicinal properties of all the Idaho Springs waters 
are very marked. The sensation produced by a plunge in the great swimming 
baths is simply delightful, and for rheumatic affections has proved wonderfully 
efficacious. 

There are numerous resorts close at hand where all can spend hours or 
months of pleasure. Pleasant drives lead to half a dozen picturesque mining 



"THE AMEiaCAX SWITZEKLAND." 61 

camps; winding trails extend to the summits of adjacent mountains, and 
seciu.^ed highways for the pedestrian penetrate nature's wildest nooks. The 
Eeebee Zouse is a good, comfortable mountain hotel; transient rates, $3 per 
day. Livery is abundant at same rates as at Central. Good deer hunting in 
the mountains within half a day's ride. Trout-fishing in Fall river, 3 miles. 

An additional commodious and well-appointed hotel is soon to be erected. 
A valuable feature of this will be the introduction of the hot soda water direct 
from the springs into a large proportion of the rooms by means of iron pipes. 
Facilities for hot and cold water bathing will be supplied separately from each 
chamber, and the invalid can enjoy all the comforts of an elegant home, 
together with the finest mineral baths, without leaving his rooms. An ex- 
hilarating atmosphere and healing waters; in the midst of noble pines and 
enchanting scenery; fishing, hunting, riding and exploring; an ever-fruitful 
field for the exercise of the mind in the mining, milling and railway enterprises 
— these, together with an easy accessibility, are a few of the attributes which in 
the future will render Idaho Springs one of the most popular of Rocky mountain 
resorts. 

"Old Man of the Mountains.'''' — Again taking passage on the narrow gauge, 
and speeding up the valley to Fall river, 2}^ miles, we passed at the very base 
of this noted landmark, and all were out for a view. It consists of an excellent 
profile of a man's head, chiseled by nature out of the rocks, four or five hundred 
feet above the track. Across the creek is the Fall River House, also quite a 
stopping place for pleasure travel. Fall river enters Clear creek just below, 
bearing in its sparkling waters a suggestion of the speckled beauties to be found 
a mile or two above. 

Every foot of the road continued to present some new and interesting feature, 
f ome glorious and unrivaled view of snowy peak, or nearer glimpse of rush- 
L\g creek and shaded valley. We kept close to the water's edge, and passed 
srme pretty falls of man's construction, and occasionally saw the miners at work 
among the golden sands. Quartz mining enterprises are not wanting. We 
had entered the " silver belt, " however, and found the mountains much more 
precipitous than in the gold region — hence more interesting to the seeker of 
wonders. 

Georgetown — well named the "Silver Queen" — is distant from Denver 52 
miles close under the " Snowy Range," at an altitude of 8,412 feet. The valley 
here is nearly a mile wide, reasonably level, and the mountains rise up 
ruggt d and abrupt on three sides to a height of nearly 2,000 feet. Two 
branc les of the stream come leaping down'through the streets from either side, 
and the visitor may expect to see the handsomest city in the Rockies — none 
could be more eligibly located and few have made better use of natural charms. 
The ciiy has a population of 5,000 — all directly or indirectly interested in mining. 
You scv silver bricks at the banks and smelters, you stumble over huge masses 
of silver ore at your hotel and on the street corners, and go where you will the 
windows and counters are lined with specimens of the glittering mineral. The 
inhabitants are fairly charged with mining enthusiasm and confidence in the*" 
town. If you are incredulous at their kindly offered information why <7«ere are 
the bricks! Georgetown has enjoyed a marvelous degree of prosperity. The 
splendid business houses, schools, residences, water works and smelting works 
are living monuments. The town is literally surrounded with mountains of 



G2 TO THE R0CKJE3 AND BEYOND. 

silver ore, and much of it is of such grade that it has been shipped to Europe 
for treatment and the bullion returned to America with handsome margin for 
profit. The railway era has added new faith and prosperity. Ores are now 
shipped in great quantity to Black Hawk, Denver, Golden, Omaha and across 
the ocean, which a few years ago were valueless on account of the great cost of 
transportation. The silver belt here is about 12 miles wide by 20 long. 

According to Raymond and other reliable authorities, the gold and silver 
mines of this county (Clear Creek) have produced $14,000,000. The "Dives 
PeUcan " mine has been the largest producer, having yielded |3, 000,000. 
Its largest yield for one week was $65,000 in 1874. The " Terrible " has pro- 
duced its hundreds of thousands, and among others well worth a visit are the 
"Colorado Central, " "East Roe" and "Equator." All are high up the mountain 
sides but will well repay the climb. 

Neighhorhood Attraciions. — Georgetown is unrivaled for the multiplicity, 
beauty and interest of attractions for the visitor. Green Lake, 2fo miles, is a 
sheet possessing rare charms for all. It is half a mile long by a quarter wide, 
hemmed in by high mountains and pine forests. Fine boats are furnished and 
in a row across the water the visitor can see the wonderful forest of petrified 
trees standing upright many feet beneath the surface, with thousands of trout 
swimming among the branches. The lake has been stocked with 40,000 Cali- 
fornia salmon, 20,000 trout and 200,000 fish of other varieties. Thousands of 
California salmon are now in the hatching houses on the lake shore. Accom- 
modations are the best to be had in the mountains. An excellent carriage road 
leads to Snake River Pass, 9 miles, where the novelty of resting one foot upon 
the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific Slope, and of picking flowers with one 
hand and gathering snow with the other can be enjoyed. The view of the 
Mount of the Holy Cross, and a wide compass of mountain peaks is from here 
indescribably grand. Only fifteen minutes walk from the city are those won- 
ders, the Devil's Gate and Bridal Veil Falls. Empire, a pretty gold mining 
camp where $2,000,000 have been produced, 4 miles; Brownsville, 3; Silver 
Plume, 2; Summit of Gray's Peak, 15; Chicago Lakes, 8, are among other 
especially interesting rides and drives. Good saddle ponies at $2 to $3 per day, 
and teams at $8 to $12. In the city the visitor should not fail to visit the 
banks, smelting works, and the "Miners Assay Office," where the finest mineral 
specimens and bullion are always on exhibition and the practical knowledge of 
the reduction of ores can be obtained. There are two good hotels, the Barton 
and American, the Barton being a model from parlor to kitchen. Board, $;> 
per day. 

From here the railway is in process of construction to Fair Play, South Park, 
73 miles, taking in the rich silver mining camps of Silver Plume, Brownsville, -Hall 
Valley, etc. and penetrating heavy forests of pine. It will be emphatically the 
" silver belt railway," as it crosses the greatest silver veins of Colorado, often 
passing the veiy mouths of the tunnels and winding among the ore piles. Its 
windings far up the mountains in view of Georgetown, through that wonderful 
gash, the Devil's Gate, and across the summits, develop the most remakable of 
all railway engineering feats and will place the " Silver Belt Route " ahead of 
any in the land for interest to the tourist. The rapidly increasing yield of the 
South Park mines and large stock and lumber interests are items of coveted 
trade in that direction. 



64 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND, 

Middle Park. — Of the large parks this is by far the finest in all points which 
•constitute attractions for the health and pleasure-seekers or the sportsman, and 
oflPers many charms and advantages for those seeking homes. Its accessibility, 
the wildness, singularity and sublimity of its scenery; the coolness, salubrity 
and invigorating influences of its climate and its inviting baths; its dozens of 
rivers and lakes, alive with gamy trout, and its deep solitudes of mountain and 
forest, only broken as haunts for noble game — these alone render it a mecca to 
\>e eagerly sought, saying nothing of its myriad charms which could be elabo- 
rated in appropriate space. We went from Georgetown to Hot Springs, 46 
miles, easily in a day; took a delightful plunge in the Hot Sulphur baths, had 
trout and venison for supper and early next morning rode to the summit of 
llount Bross, near by, to get a thorough idea of the Park and surroundings. 
Clearly distinguishable on every side, through the transparent atmosphere, we 
could see the almost perfect girdle of the Park — the snowy range. Rolled up 
high against this are pine-covered mountains in every conceivable attitude; then 
i a the wonderful circular basin known as the " Park, " which has an area of 
-4,000 square miles, are the grass covered lesser elevations, which would pass for 
mountains almost anywhere. Nestling among these hills are the hundreds of 
parks in miniature, nearly every one of which sends its crystal brook toward the 
tea. Down through the centre of this great basin comes the sparkling, swift- 
ilowing Grand, its course marked by as fair a valley as human eyes ever beheld, 
and its sheltering bluffs rising over as cosy and thrifty frontier homes as one 
could find anywhere. Tributary to it are a dozen streams which may well be 
ranked as rivers. Of course, standing like ice-clad watch-towers over this 
lovely scene are such mighty peaks as Mount Lincoln, Long's Peak, Gray's 
Peak, James Peak and others. The Park has an average elevation of 7,800 
feet. 

The Springs consist of a dozen or more boiling, hissing, sulphur-scented 
fountains spurting from the crevices of an immense rock overlooking the river 
and at the base of Mount Bross. The waters of several of the largest fall in 
one great sheet over the edge into a natural basin and form a deUghtful bath. 
The temperature is about 110°. Commodious bath houses are furnished, and 
hotel accommodations are very fair at $3 to $3 per day. Dr. Stedman, a noted 
physician of the west, has this to say of Hot Springs and vicinity: " For 
chronic cases, where it is desired to combine change of scene with medical 
treatment, few places in summer combine more natural attractions than the 
vicinity of these springs can boast. And with its magnificent river (rightly 
named the ' Grand'), its wooded and grassy slopes, surrounded by alternate for- 
est-crowned hills, and abrupt, savage and rocky cliffs, while beyond and 
encircling all, rise the rough outlines of the 'snowy-range,' one could easily 
imagine that here might be the place where the waters should gush forth which 
■•should be for the healing of the nations.' " 

Trout- fishing is good almost everywhere, especially so in the upper Grand 
and at Grand Lake, 25 miles distant. Grand Lake is a sheet of water of un- 
known depth, about two miles square, environed in fro-wming cliffs and fairly 
thronged with trout. Elk, deer, mountain sheep, bear and antelope abound, as 
do water-fowl, sage hens and grouse, almost everywhere. At the southeastern 
nm of the Park, near the lively gulch mining town of Breckenridge, bear hunt- 
ing is exceptionally good. No matter what particular species one may fancy he 




Mount of tiik Holy Cuoss— Xkar Georgetown, Colorado. 



66 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOXD. 

can always be accommodated there. He can meet the kindly " cinnamon " by 
twilight alone, or he can have half a dozen for company; he can always inter- 
view one solitary "grizzly " on that lonely path down to the village slaughter 
house, or, by going a roundabout course, can divide his attention among four or 
five when he gets there; should he desire one of the large " black" kind, so the 
saying goes among local hunters, he has only to lariat a tolerably small sized 
pony with a two -inch cable on a nice little patch of grass in the bottom of a 
certain gulch just above town; he may proceed to take his morning ride any 
time after midnight and he will find a fair representative of the black species 
sitting where his pony ought to be and endeavoring to spit out that two-inch 
cable. We indiscreetly expressed some curiosity about the bear family in the 
sitting room of Judge Silverthorne's popular Breckenridge hostehy one evening, 
and inside of ten minutes were fairly overwhelmed with invitations to attend a 
black bear re-union up in Negro gulch, a grizzly promenade down Zig-zag Hol- 
low or a cinnamon breakdown over on Buff"alo Flat. Breckenridge is 60 miles 
from Hot Springs by a good wagon road. Lakes near by abound in trout of 
prodigious size and appetite. -Tip-top hotel and livery accommodations. Board 
$3 per day. 

Curiosity hunters in the Park are rewarded by the existence in great plenty 
of agates, petrifactions, amethysts, fossils, chalcedony, etc. The luxuriant 
grasses are being utilized by fine herds of cattle. The owners are always hos- 
pitable and in different localities are prepared to entertain guests royally. From 
Georgetown to the edge of the Park, the distance is 21 miles; to the Springs, 46 
miles; Tri- weekly stages ; fare from Georgetown to the Springs, $8. Good roads 
track the Park in most directions. Saddle ponies can be obtained at the Springs 
at $1.50 to $3 per day. Board can be obtained in all desirable localities at from 
$3 to $3 per day. 

Clear Creek Canon liy Moonlight. — Returning to Georgetown we had the 
choice of two regular trains per day for Denver. The moon was at its full, and 
by taking the evening train we were afforded the most sublime ride of our lives. 
Imagine the effect of the pale rays of the night queen as we twisted and doubled 
upon our course in the depths of that mighty chasm. Sometimes the rushing 
waters and canon shades were fairly flooded with the almost vertical beams; 
suddenly darkness was deeper than before because of our abrupt change of 
course under the giant battlements. Now our bands of steel gleamed like sil- 
ver; in an instant all was blackness and confusion. The walls, the fissures, the 
noisy cataract below, the stars and pine-clad summits above seemed to dance 
hke the figures of the kaleidoscope, so like magic was it all. Travel "by moon" 
here, reader, if you can, and never miss its silvery halo on either the up or down 
trip through Clear Creek canon. Emerging from the Rockies at Golden, we 
again changed for the coaches of the main broad-gauge line, and descending 
eastward through the fertile Clear Creek valley soon found ourselves at the 
metropolis. 

Dciurr. — Capital and commercial center of Colorado, and sooner or later the 
grand objective point of nine-tenths of all who visit the state. Distance from 
Omaha, 648 miles; altitude, 5,344 feet. The city is built on both sides of the 
South Platte river, fourteen miles from the foothills, commanding one of the 
finest panoramas of snowy range and timbered mountains in the entire west. 
Northward 75 miles is Long's Peak: southward the same distance, and always 



"THE AMEIIICAX SWITZEKLAXD." 67 

in perfect view, is Pike's Peak. The view extends still beyond these, being only 
lost in the sombre outlines of the Black Hills, 125 miles northward, and in the 
Sangre de Cristo mountains, 150 miles to the south. This gives clear, unbroken 
sweep for the vision of nearly COO miles, and one that furnishes an endless 
variety of mountain grouping, from the dark green and purple-tinged pine-lands 
of the lower ranges to the snowy, silvery summits of a hundred mighty peaks. 
Denver is a solidly built, well shaded city of 23,000 people. Evidences of refine- 
ment, wealth and remarkable enterprise greet the visitor on every hand. Long 
streets and avenues, thickly lined with elegant residences, beautiful shade trees, 
and tasty yards and garden?, stretch out in every direction from the well-built 
business centers. It is essentially a city of fine churches and schools, of elaborate 
public improvements and great private enterprises, of high social culture and an 
enduring thrift. Attesting its claims on health and pleasure seekers are the facts 
that nearly one-half of tlie population are reconstructed invalids and that it is 
the resort of thousands of America's most prominent divines, law-makers and 
capitalists and of the greatest travelers and nobility of Europe. P. T. Barnum 
has remarked in a lecture, " Why, Coloradoans are the most disappointed people 
I ever saw. Two-thirds of them come here to die and they can't do it.'" John 
Russell Young has long since said, " Denver and Paris are the two cities with 
which I fell in love at first sight, and in which I have a constant yearning some 
time or other to reside. I have seen no prettier town in Europe or America than 
your same Denver." The number of arrivals at Denver hotels in 1877 was 
121,000. 

The growth has been one of great rapidity. Since the first railroad was com- 
pleted in 1870 the population has increased from 4,000 to 23,000. Six lines of 
railroad, the Kansas Pacific, Colorado Central, Denver and Rio Grande, Denver 
Pacific, Denver, South Park and Pacific, and Denver and Boulder Valley, have 
been completed in these seven years, giving her direct routes to the east, drain- 
ing all the valuable farming regions of the state and penetrating the heart of the 
richest mining centers. Her trade has reached $20,000,000 per annum. In 
1877 her eight banking institutions sold exchange to the amount of $18,000,000 
and cared for nearly $2,500,000 of average deposits. Insurance carried, $6,000,- 
000; shipments of cattle, 1877, 8,140 head; value of improvements made, same 
year, $350,000; manufactured articles, $2,000,000; total amount received in post- 
office money-order business, $555,000; these items will convey something of an 
idea of the thrift and importance of the city, commercially. 

In walks about Denver, there will be especially noticed the splendid Holly 
water works, ^hich send pure mountain water from the Platte all over the city 
at the rate of a million gallons per day; three or four lines of street railway, gas 
works, five fine public school buildings and a widely known ladies' seminary, 
twenty churches. United States branch mint, half a dozen good hotels, etc. 
Four daily papers, such as cities twice the size east could not boast, are pub- 
lished here. These are the pioneer Rocl-i/ Mountain Ncivs, Denver Tribune, 
Times and Democrat. In brief, Denver is the metropolis of one thousand miles 
of plain and mountain, the entrepot of the great Rocky Mountain gold and 
silver mining region, of the stock and agricultural interests of a country larger 
than all of the states east of Ohio combined, and the sanitarium of admiring 
thousands. 

Drives over unexcelled roads radiate in all directions, each having favorite 



(38 TO THE UOCKIES AXD BEYOXI). 

points of view of mountain, city and i)lain. In the immediate neighborhood the 
Boulevards, Central Pa,rk, Swansea Smelting' Works, Villa Park, Sloan's Lake, 
and the Denver trout ponds, should not be overlooked. Within a dozen miles 
are a variety of attractions, such as Bear Creek Canyon, Bergen Park, Mt. Ver- 
non, Morrison Soda Springs, Soda Lakes and Church's Lake. Good duck hunt- 
ing in the lakes, and trout-fishing near Morrison, in Bergen Park, and near Mt. 
Vernon. Hotel rates, $2.50 to $4.00 per day; excellent boarding houses furnish 
accommodations at from |7 to $10 per week. Venison, buffalo, antelope and 
bear meat, with mountain grouse and trout, are common items of hotel cui- 
sine. Carriage hire, $4 to $7 per day; good saddle ponies can be obtained at 
$2 per day. Denver has really the finest omnibus and transfer line in the west- 
ern country; uniform fares, including baggage, 50 cents. Street car fares, five 
cents. The Colorado Central and other railways make special excursion rates 
for tourists, in large or small parties, to all mountain resorts. Rents for cot- 
tages are from $20 to $35 per month. Expenses of living about 15 per cent 
higher than east of the Mississippi. 

SOUTHERN COLORADO AND NEW MEXICO. 

Colorado Springs and Manitou. — Prominent among the Union Pacific Rail- 
way connections and feeders in Colorado is the Denver and Rio Grande Railway 
(narrow gauge), leading directly southward from Denver 220 miles to the borders 
of New Mexico and the San Juan country, and controlling the immense freight 
and passenger traffic of that region. Lying near the base of Pike's Peak and 
75 miles south of Denver, are Colorado Springs and Manitou, the former on 
the line of the railroad, and the latter 5 miles distant by carriage road. Mani- 
tou is famous all over the land as a summer resort, and indeed is becoming quite 
a favorite rendezvous for travelers in winter. It is situated in one of the wildest 
and most beautiful of mountain glens, at an altitude of 6,250 feet, possessing as 
the principal attraction seven noted mineral springs. These springs are named 
"Manitou," "Navajo," "Comanche," "Shoshone," "Arrapahoe," "Misha 
Tunga," and " Pawnee," all possessing valuable curative properties. Iron and 
soda are the prevailing constituents, and the waters from the richest are said to 
contain an ounce of medicated matter to every four gallons of water. Other 
attractions in the vicinity are "Garden of the Gods," Canon of the Fountain, 
Glen Eyrie, Ute Pass and Falls, Cheyenne Mountain and Rainbow Glen. As- 
cents of Pike's Peak are made from here; distance to summit, air line, 8 miles. 
There are four hotels here, charging from $2.50 to $4 per day, and furnishing 
accommodations from the average grade up to the best obtainable at any water- 
ing place east or west. Daily stages from Manitou to Colorado Springs connect 
with the trains. 

Pueblo. — Southward from Denver 120 miles, in the valley of the Arkansas, is 
Pueblo, bearing to some extent the same relation to southern Colorado that Den- 
ver does to the northern portion. It contains 5,000 inhabitants, Holly water 
works, rolling mills nearly completed, fine school and church privileges, and 
has virtually three railway lines — the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Denver & 
Rio Grande, and a branch of the latter road running up the Arkansas to Canon 
City, 40 miles distant. 97,000 tons of freight were handled here by the ditferent 
railways in 1877, and among important shipments were 13,000 head of cuttle. 



70 TO THK itOCKIliS AXD BEYOND. 

The branch railway line to Canon City opens up a rich agricultural and min- 
eral region, and attracts considerable trade and travel from the southern and 
western counties of Colorado. Near Canon City are extensive deposits of coal, 
from which were taken 53,000 tons of excellent fuel in 1877. At Canon City 
are warm and cold soda springs of considerable merit, and just above town is 
the entrance to the 

Grand Gallon of the Arkansas. — This is a gash of remarkable beauty and 
magnificence, the walls rising almost perpendicularly from the water's edge to 
the height of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The climate is one of the most equable and 
pleasant, the year round, to be found in Coloiudo. Summer and fall often ex- 
tend far into the winter, while fruits and flowers which are too delicate for 
northern sections of the state flourish in the open air. Trout are plentiful within 
easy walk, and large game ditto within a day's ride. Westward 25 miles are 
the Rosita gold and silver mines, now yielding at the rate of $250,000 per year. 
Daily stages thither. Rich copper ore and paying oil wells are found near 
Canon. The Colorado State penitentiary is located here. 

New Mexico. — This great territory, with an area of 121,000 square miles, 
and a population of 100,000 souls, has been rendered tributary to the Rio Grande 
Railway by the extension of the line southward from Pueblo 86 miles, to El 
More. The importance of its trade can be in a measure imagined from the facts 
that as many as 1,000,000 sheep have been sent to market per annum from 
its boundless pastures, 10,000,000 pounds of wool clipped, and ihat one silver 
mine produces a ton of base bullion per week, and a copper mine, with the 
rudest appliances, turns out 3,000 pounds of pure copper per week. The freight 
shipped and received by the Rio Grande Railway at El Moro from this great 
southern country in 1877 amounted to 42,971,582 pounds. The territory pos- 
sesses a delightful climate. Vast areas of rich mining country, and millions of 
acres of unsurpassed grazing and agricultural lands arc yet unoccupied. South- 
ward only a few hundred miles are the rich and populous states of northern Mex- 
ico — the land of the orange and grape — soon to be pouring their wealth of 
mines, pastures and vineyards northward over this highway, and eastward via 
Omaha and Chicago. Daily stages run between El Moro and Santa Fe. Dis- 
tance 205 miles. 

The main line of the Denver & Rio Grande continues its course southward 
from Pueblo 100 miles to the eastern edge of San Luis Valley, and for the pres- 
ent makes its terminus Garland City. This is the real gateway to the San Juan 
mines, and is the point where freights are transferred, and travel seeks the stage 
coach. The road onlrreached this point in August, 1877, but for the five months 
ending December 31, 1877, freights forwarded and received at the Garland depot 
reached the handsome figures of 12,944,153 pounds. Vcta Pasc, just east of 
Garland, over which the railway is laid, is unsurpassed for the magnificence of 
its scenery. Railway engineering here has surmounted wonderful difficulties, 
and affords the tourist a constant view of its most brilliant achievements. 

" THE SAN JUAN REGION" 

is the title generally applied to. the extensive and marvelously rich silver mining 
country in southwestern Colorado. It comprises the counties of La Plata, Hins- 
dale, San .Juan, Ouray, and portions of Rio Grande, Conejos and Saguache, and 



* "THE AMERICAN SWITZERLAND." 71 

covers the princely area of 14,000 square miles. The discoveries generally are 
confined to great altitudes and unusually rugged mountains. Before the era of 
roads some of the miners carried small lots of the rich ore out over the snowy 
summits, a dozen miles, on their backs, and rendered their avocation profitable 
iit that. The great first work has been to render the region accessible by con- 
structing good wagon roads. This accomplished to a large extent — with the 
near approach of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway — and the progress has 
been noteworthy, even in this fast age. Towns have sprung up as if by magic. 
What was a wilderness of almost inaccessible mountains, 300 miles from rail- 
way two years ago, is echoing with the din of some sixteen quartz mills and 
smelters. Nearly 10,000 mines have been discovered and located. Large areas 
of choice agricultural , grazing and timber lands have been thrown open to set- 
tlement. The number of sheep now in this region i^ estimated at 400,000 head, 
and the wool clip for 1877 at 800,000 pounds. Base bullion to the amount of 
900 tons, worth from $280 to $350 per ton, was sent out over the Rio Grande 
road during the past summer. The freight business was also immense, about 
5,000,000 pounds of supplies, mining machinery, etc., having been hauled in 
over the different routes last season. 

The Principal Districts are Summit, Animas, Eureka, Uncompahgre, Lake, 
Galena, Park and Decatur. These lie along the San Juan river and its many 
tributaries and along the tributaries of the Grand on the western slope, and 
at the hea 'waters of the Rio Grande on the eastern slope. The best developed 
and richest mines thus far worked are the " Bonanza," " Saxon " and " Alaska," 
in Uncompahgre District; the "North Star," "Empire," "Grey Eagle " and 
"Aspen," Animas; "Mountain Queen," "Mammoth and Red Cloud" and 
Maid of the Mist," Eureka; " Young America " and " Dolly Varden," Galena; 
"UteandUle "and" Hotchkiss," Lake. Ores from these yield $100 to $2,000 per 
ton. Specimens of nearly pure silver have been taken from the "North Star," 
in Animas District, while the "Mountain Queen," in Eureka District, has a 
large vein yielding 75 per cent lead and 50 ounces silver per ton. The mines of 
Summit District are all gold-bearing, and are literally "quarries of free gold 
ores," the receipts from the "Little Annie " having been as high as $4,000 in 
gold per week. 

Towns and Camps. — Following are the principal towns, with their altitude, 
population, name of county and distance from Garland, at the terminus of the 
Denver & Rio Grande Railway. There arc many small camps, the entire popu- 
lation being estimated at 10,000. Good mountain roads connect all camps with 
Garland: 
Town or Camp. Distance. Altitude. County. Population. 

Del Norte G5 7.807 Rio Grande 2,500 

Lake City 145 8,550 Hinsdale 1.500 

Silverton 185 9.400 La Plata ...1,000 

Ouray 223 7.300 San Juan 800 

Crooke City 147 S.fiOO Hinsdale 500 

Capital City 150 9.500 Hinsdale 400 

Howardsviile 165 9.700 San Juan 100 

Eureka 170 9.900 San Juan 100 

Animas Fork.s 172 L1,U00 San Juan 100 

7,000 



72 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND, * 

Scenery, Rates, Distances, etc. — As San Juan is by far the most ruggocl and 
mountainous section of Colorado, traversed by numberless streams and abound- 
ing in parks and lakes, it may be imagined that the scenery is superlatively 
grand. There are hot springs at Wagon Wheel Gap, 30 miles above Del Norte, 
and at other points on regular stage lines. Fishing is tip-top in the Rio Grande 
and other streams. Game is exceedingly plentiful away from the camps. 
Large crops of grain and vegetables are produced in Saguache and Animas 
valleys, and dairying is largely carried on at great profit. The market for all 
produce is unexcelled. Barlow & Sanderson's daily stages run from Garland to 
Del Norte, Lake City, Silverton, and all other prominent points; fares: Denver 
to Del Norte, $22; Denver to Lake City, $37. Hotels at all towns and camps; 
rates: $2.50 to $3.50. Ruter's Concord coaches also leave Garland every other 
day for Costilla, Red River Settlement, Taos and Santa Fe. Distance to Santa, 
Fe, 155 miles; fare, $25. The famous Ojo Caliente hot springs are 20 miles 
west of Taos, and a side stage line will carry passengers over during the coming 
season. At Garland prices of produce are: flour, $3.75 per cwt;; potatoes, 
$3; corn, $1.65; oats, $1.85; butter, 35 cents per pound 



CHAPTER IV. 

WESTWARD TO UTAH — LARAMIE PLAINS AND NORTH PARK 
— CAMPING OUT — NOTES FOR THE TOURIST. 

Returning to Cheyenne over the Colorado Central, and resuming our journey- 
westward on the great trans-continental line, we soon crossed the main range- 
of the Rocky Mountains at Sherman — 549 miles from Omaha, at an elevation 
of 8,342 feet — and looked down upon that vast grassy amphitheater, the Lara- 
mie Plains. On a perfectly clear day the view from some of the slopes over- 
looking this basin is grand beyond description. The hundreds of square miles 
of pasture lands and arable valleys lie in full view. Through the center the 
course of the noble Laramie river is plainly traced by its broad bands of rich, 
green meadows, its groves of cottonwood, and at frequent intervals its own 
shining bosom. Twenty-five miles distant the black clouds of smoke of fair 
Laramie City mingle with the bluest of ether, and, by the aid of a good glass, 
one can trace the rows of brick blocks, the machine shops and rolling mills of 
the thriving entrepot there built up under the stimulating influence of the 
Union Pacific Railway. To the west rise the white peaks of the Medicine Bow 
range. Southward are the clear-cut, sharp-pointed Diamond Peaks, the Black 
Hills swinging around on the northern side, and with the main range forming 
a perfect girdle and shelter. Dark pine forests lie against the horizon almost 
everj'where. 

The Laramie Plains contain nearly 3,000,000 acres of unsurpassed winter and 
summer grazing lands. The average elevation is 7,150 feet. Over 50,000 head 
of stock are grazing in this region, and many of the finest ranch sites are stilL 
to be bad for the simple taking. The railroad company has also choice tracts 



LARAMIE PLAINS AND NORTH PARK. 73 

of agricultural lands along the principal streams, which can be obtained in the 
sajne manner as the Nebraska lands. Wheat, rye, oats and barley have been 
experimented with here, and are found to yield bountifully by irrigation. The 
population is estimated at 8,000. The principal streams are the Big and Little 
Laramie rivers, Rock Creek, Deer Creek, Medicine Bow river and Cooper Creek, 
all tributai-ies of the North Platte river. It was in the extreme northern edge 
of these plains that General Reynolds, of the United States Army, wintered 
with a few followers in 1860. His expedition had made hard marches all sum- 
mer, and when winter set in the animals were turned out to seek their own 
living, all thoroughly bi-oken down, poor and imfit for use. In the spring these 
horses, with one exception, were fat and in perfect condition to commence their 
season's work. Reporting upon this, the General said: " This fact, that 70 ex- 
hausted animals, turned out to winter on the plains the 1st of November, came 
out in the spring in the best condition, and with the loss of but one of the 
number, is the most forcible commentary I can make of the quality of the 
grass and the character of the winter." 

Sheep Rais'nuj.- — The climate and grasses are especially adapted to sheep 
raising. Some 35,000 head of sheep are now grazing in diiferent sections, and 
their owners claim a profit, one year with another, of 25 to 35 per cent on the 
capital invested. Feed is only required during a few days of winter, the aver- 
age not being a month in the whole year, and only hay is used. This is cut at 
slight expense on the meadow lands along creek bottoms. Mexican sheep cost 
$2 to |2.25 per head, and are rapidly graded up by the infusion of better blood 
— Merino bucks generally being used. To commence with, a herd of 1,000 
sheep — which is about the average number started with — will require an invest- 
ment of $4,000, as follows: 1,000 Mexican sheep, $2,000; 20 Merino rams, $300; 
corrals, cabin, etc., $500; leaving $1,200 for carrying on the herd until some 
income from the flock is obtained. Herders cost $25 per month and board. The 
wool of graded sheep will pay all expenses of the flock — that is, after one cross 
of the Merino with the Mexican. The increase will average 80 per cent. In 
flocks of 1,000 the total expense of keeping "will average 60 cents per head 
per year, under economical management. Mutton lambs sell at $2.50 to $3; 
mutton sheep, $2.50 to $2.75; wool, 18 to 20 cents per pound. The Mexican sheep 
yields 2 pounds at a clip; first cross with Merino, 3 pounds; second cross, 4 
pounds, the wool increasing in value about 2 cents per pound with each cross. 

To double the capital m three years is a very common result, and this has 
been accomplished in two years, with especial good management. All sheep 
brought from the south yield a larger quantity and finer grade of wool after the 
first year — a fact partly due to the superiority of the grasses here and partly to 
the unvarying cool and equable temperature of these high altitudes. One 
breeder figures up his business for a term of five years in this wise : Increase 
from 1,000 ewes, 75 per cent annually, 7,823, worth $2.25 per head, or $17,- 
601.75. Yalue of wool, at 20 cents per pound, $4,829.20. Aggregate in five 
years, without including the value of the original band, $22,430.95. His aver- 
age expense of keeping was only 50 cents per head per annum, or $6,411.50. 
Net profit for the five years' operations, $16,019.45. This result, large as it may 
seem, was obtained by breeding only Mexican sheep. Under the improved 
system of grading up the sheep and thus securing more and finer wool and a 
larger animal for mutton, a difference of $7,342.30 is shown, and the ranch- 



74 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

man who raises the better herd and clips the iiner fleece exhibits a clear profit 
of $33,361.75 from his investment of $4,000 and his five years' work. 

The pastures are boundless; consumption always keeps pace with produc- 
tion, and these experiences can be duplicated by thousands of ranchmen along 
the grand old mountains and among the grassy foothills. 

Dahnjing. — Quite a number of the most intelligent ranchmen are turning their 
attention solely to the production of butter and to marketing milk at Laramie. 
While the latter branch of the business might easily be overdone, it is self-evi- 
dent that the manufacture of butter and cheese can never be. No climate in 
the world can excel this lor dairying. The cool, pure atmosphere, the crystal 
stream, the wonderfully sweet and nutritious grasses are auxiliaries which no 
eastern producer can ever hope to enjoy to such an extent as docs the Wyoming 
dairyman. Feed of the choicest kind costs nothing, the simple cabin in the 
mountain glen has thus far been the milk house, and the market is at hand in 
the mines, in the lumbering camps and at the railway. Wyoming produces 
only one-third of the butter consumed, the balance being shipped from distant 
states. Home-made or ranch butter always sells from 5 to 10 cents per pound 
higher than the eastern article and is always eagerly sought for by first-class 
hotels and the better class of citizens. Dairy cows sell readily for $40 per head 
here; best grades of butter at from 80 to 40 cents per pound. 

Laramie City. — In the midst of these plains, and on the south side of Lara- 
mie river, is the city of the same name. It is distant from Omaha 572 miles ; alti- 
tude 7,128 feet. It contains a population of 3,500 souls and is not only the 
"Gem of the Laramie Plains," but of all Wyoming, for beauty of location, 
finely laid out streets and pleasant homes. Laramie is only a fair example of 
what industry and thrift railroads can create in a wilderness and of what the 
Pacific Railway has done for two thousand miles of country which would yet 
be utilized only by the savage and wild beasts but for its civilizing influence. 
The only rolling mills in operation between the Missouri river and the Pacific 
coast are located here. These were built by the Union Pacific company in 1875, 
at a cost of $250,000, and have a capacity of 20,000 tons of railroad iron per 
annum. Two hundred men are employed. As this is the end of a regular 
division of the road the company has also extensive machine shops and a round 
house here. A large number of men are employed in these, and the amounts 
disbursed here and at the rolling mills monthly put many thousand dollars into 
home circulation. The river contains a sufficient volume of water to furnish 
splendid water-power. Enterprises looking to the manufacturing of iron from 
the vast deposits of ore near the city, and for utilizing the great soda deposits, 
also located here, are already freely talked of. Woollen mills are also greatly 
needed. It is well known that gold, silver, copper, lead, plumbago, iron, anti- 
mony, red hematite iron, brown hematite specular iron, sulphate of soda, gyp- 
sum, marble and cinnabar, are found within a radius of 30 miles of the city, in 
such quantity that they can be readily utilized with a reasonable outlay of 
capital. 

Freight is received at the Laramie depot to the amount of nearly 20,000,000 
pounds per annum. Another item showing the thrift and traffic of the place is 
the post-office money-order business. During the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1877, money orders were sold to the amount of $56,237.84. A fine system of 
water-works sends pure spring water through the streets and into the houses. 



LAKAMIE PLAINS AND NORTH PAIIK. 75 

A Catholic hospital and convent are located here. From Laramie there is tri- 
weekly mail service to Hans Peak gold mines, 112 miles; to White River 
Ag-ency, Colorado, 228 miles; weekly to Fort Laramie, 85 miles, and weekly to 
Centennial and Last Chance mines, 30 and 40 miles respectively. 

Mining. — The principal gold and silver mining districts tributary to Laramie 
City, are Rock Creek, Centennial, Sheep Mountain, Big Laramie, Douglass 
Ci-eek or Last Chance, and the North Park districts. Rock Creek is composed 
of placer mining claims, forty miles northwesterly from Laramie, which were 
only discovered a year ago, and which promise well. Work with the hydraulic 
is already progressing. The Centennial district, thirty miles west of Laramie, 
by an excellent wagon road, was opened in 1876, one quartz claim yielding 
$20,000 in gold that year. Several large deposits yielding as high as $100 to 
the ton of ore have been discovered, but are only partially developed. Sheep 
Mountain district is near Centennial, and is noted for its rich silver ores. Assays 
from different mines at depths from 80 feet downward have run as high as 2,000 
ounces of silver to the ton. Thirty miles south of Laramie is the Big Laramie 
Quartz and Placer Mining District, in which both gold and silver mines of 
undoubted great value have been discovered. Large deposits of copper, assay- 
ing $110 per ton, are also found in this district. Southwesterly from the city 
forty miles is the Last Chance District, containing rich gold quartz and placer 
mines. "Pay-dirt" has been found in over a dozen of the lodes from the 
"grassroots down. Four companies are operating these mines with grati- 
fying success; over 300 tons of ore, assaying $300 per ton, now lying at the 
mouth of one mine awaiting the advent of quartz mills. These districts, it 
should be remembered, are on the outskirts of an extensive unprospected 
mineral-bearing region. 

Oa the borders of North Park, sixty miles south of Laramie, rich dis- 
coveries have recently been made of gulch mines, auriferous quartz, and ruby 
silver. We have seen beautiful nuggets from gulches in this vicinity, and the 
quartz mines bid fair to equal those of the very best districts of Colorado. 
Still farther southward — from 100 to 125 miles, and over the borders of 
Colorado — are the noted Rabbit Ear Silver 'Mines and the Hans Peak Placer 
Mines, which, during the seasons of 1876-'7, attracted widespread attention 
on. account of their richness and extent of deposit. Specimens from the " Grand 
Lake " and other mines, slightly roasted, show globules of pure native silver. 
The Hans Peak placer mines have been sufficiently developed to establish the 
fact that they are the most extensive of all new districts in the Rocky moun- 
tains. Mining experts from San Francisco, Arizona and elsewhere, pronounce 
the wealth of one bar (" Poverty Hill "), which has been thoroughly prospected, 
at nothing less than millions. This bar covers 250 acres, and is being thoroughly 
opened up by means of flumes and the hydraulic. Hans Peak rises grand and 
grim over the different camps to an altitude of 11,000 feet, and, as wonderfully 
rich specimens of quartz are sometimes picked up in the gulches below, it is 
generally believed that this immense deposit of placer gold has been washed 
down from some giant fissure vein of the mountain. 

All of these districts are rendered tributary to Laramie by good wagon 
roads. Of themselves they will build up a large city of quartz mills, smelters 
and sampling works, for the wealth is uncovered, and Yankee enterprise will 
soon step in and throw it into the channels of trade in the form of bullion. 



76 TO THE KOCKIES AXD BEYOXD. 

These vast fields ofter great inducements to capital, large or small, and should 
not be passed unnoticed. 

One of the largest and richest deposits of iron ore in the United States is 
found 25 miles north of Laramie, near the head of Chugwater Creek. The ore is 
described by Hayden as a black, crystalhne magnetic, yielding 68 per cent of 
iron, and the deposit is simply a vast mountain literally inexhaustible. The ore 
is naturally located much like that in the Lake Superior region, but thousands 
of tons have been washed down into the valley. 

Sock(, Marble and Lumber. — Eleven miles southwest of Laramie are located 
the famous soda lakes, which have attracted so much attention from scientific 
men and others. They exceed 100 acres in area, and contain solid beds of 
ciystallized Sulphate of soda, about nine feet thick. Upon cutting out a mass 
of this soda, the springs from the bottom immediately fill the vacuum, and in a 
few days have crystallized the same amount and quality of material as that 
removed. Thus the product is inexhaustible. It is estimated that these lakes 
now contain 50,000,000 cubic feet of chemically pure crystallized sulphate of 
soda. Soda is most valuable in the form of a carbonate, and the process of 
converting this into carbonate of soda is very simple, and comparatively inex- 
pensive. Soda is consumed in the United States to the amount of 250,000.000 
pounds a year, costing $7,000,000; and this is all imported from foreign lands. 
These lakes would supply American consumption for years to come, and in them 
Laramie undoubtedly possesses a vast mine of wealth. 

The only marble yet discovered in the western country of real value, so far 
as we know, is the deposit owned by the Wyoming Marble Company, and 
located 25 miles north of Laramie City, 12 miles from the line of the Union 
Pacific railroad. The ledge is 80 feet wide, has been traced for ten miles on 
its surface, and prospected to a depth of 100 feet without reaching bottom. 
Specimens of the marble have been worked and tested by prominent dealers 
in this material in Chicago, St. Louis and other cities, and pronounced equal 
to the best Vermont marble for monumental and other purposes. A St. Louis 
importer says it "cuts as nice and clean as statuary marble." There is enough 
of it to build the state-houses and government buildings of the Union for all 
time to come. 

The lumber interest at Laramie is worthy of note. The heavy forests noticed 
in the mountains from 30 to 40 miles south of the city are producing an average- 
of 2,000,000 feet of lumber, 2,000,000 shingles, 500,000 lath, and 300,000 railroad 
ties and large quantities of fencing annually. Large mills are busily at work in 
the forests sawing out the lumber, while many teams find employment in haul- 
ing it to the track. Ties and fencing are floated down the various streams dur- 
ing high water season — spring and summer. Tie Siding, Rock Creek, Medicine 
Bow and other railroad stations on either side are shipping points for much of 
this product. Half a dozen companies, employing from 25 to 50 men each, are en- 
gaged in this industry. Professional lumbermen from Maine are here often 
employed. They get from $4 to $5 per day, while ordinary laborers and mill 
hands receive $30 to $40 per month and board. Rough lumber sells at an aver- 
age of $22 per 1,000 feet; finishing lumber, $38 per 1,000 feet. The common 
mountain pine furnishes the principal lumber supply. It is as white as the east- 
ern pine, almost as hard as the best spruce, and is nearly identical with the Nor- 
way pine in size and appearance. Although containing more knots, it is finer- 



78 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOXD. 

grdinecl, more dense and elastic, and takes a much more beautiful finish than 
the pine growing in low altitudes east. All lumbermen pronounce it botter 
for wear or outside work, and it has almost supplanted eastern finishing lumber 
in these western cities. Wherever there are mountains we also find the pine. 
Wyoming is estimated to contain 15,000,000 acres of these superior forest lands. 
From these have been cut 7,000,000 railroad ties, 50,000,000 feet of lumber, and 
incalculable quantities of telegraph poles, fencing, etc., since the advent of the 
Union Pacific Railway, ten years ago. But the best forests are scarcely touched, 
and the market is nothing compared to what it will be as other resources become 
thoroughly developed. 

Hioitiiif/ in Xo>ih Park. — We saw antelope in herds along the track, almost 
in sight of Laramie, and lound the mountains within twenty miles of the city 
full of all kinds of large animals native to this region. But North Park, which 
is only 60 miles distant, is a very paradise for game, and in the writer's estima- 
tion surpasses any other section on the continent of equal accessibility in this 
particular. We mounted broncos at Laramie, took a couple pack animals laden 
with only the barest necessities, and had a royal ten days' hunt in the North 
Park country. The wagon road thither passes through a region which would 
itself be called superb hunting ground almost anywhere, and we must confess 
that our success from the very outset scarcely justified a trip to the Park. Elk, 
mountain bison, deer, antelope, bears. Rocky Mountain lions, mountain sheep, 
beavers, sage hens, grouse, geese, ducks, etc., have always made North Park an 
ideal hunting ground by their unusual numbers, and one which is becoming 
rapidly appreciated by western sportsmen. This great park is 80 miles long by 
50 wide, has an elevation of about 8,500 feet above sea level, and is surrounded 
by snowy mountains from 13,000 to 14,500 feet high. Below the line of perpet- 
ual snow — about 12,000 feet — the mountains are covered with dense forests; 
some of the spurs jutting far out into the Park are also well timbered. Three 
forks of the North Platte and numerous tributaries water this area more thor- 
oughly than are any of the other mountain parks. 

We can truthfully assert that we here saw antelope in herds by the thou- 
sand, and deer and elk by the hundred. While lying in camp during the day 
we had antelope tempt us by interviewing us at 50 yards or less, and at night 
liad our ponies in perpetual uproar on account of the loud ^splashing of playful 
beavers in the streams. Game is hauled from North Park by the wagon load 
whenever a hunting party does enter its sylvan precincts. Here the tourist can 
find solitude to his heart's content, the sportsman can find game with little ap- 
preciation of fear, and the health-seeker can dream away days in utter inde- 
pendence. Large springs of mineral waters are found in various localities. On& 
cf these boils up mth great force from a cavity four feet in diameter, and that 
may be bottomless for aught we know. It is cold, strongly impregnated with 
iron, and really pleasant to the taste, but an analysis of the waters, found on the 
unblacked side of an old boot-leg near by, rather stuns us. We give it without, 
remark, signature and all: 



LARAMIE PLAINS AND NORTH PARK. 79 

" Blue Lick 36 

Cherry Pectoral 14 

Scrap iron 40 

Drake's Plantation Bitters 5 

Pareproric 3 

Laugrliing gas 2 

F. V. Hayden a trace 

Brimstone a, trace 

Total 100 

(Signed) U. S. Geological Survey." 

We may soon see here large herds of cattle, where the visitor will now look 
in vain for a single hoof. Old hunters and trappers tell us that stock has win- 
tered in the Park with but slight loss; and with the thousands of acres of waist- 
high grass for hay, ranchmen should certainly be able to fortify themselves 
against the severest storms. We find as many strange freaks in the vegetable 
kingdom here as elsewhere in the Pi,ocky Mountains. Morning after morning in 
midsummer have we shaken the thick, crisp scales of white frost from our blan- 
kets, and looked sorrowfully around upon a scene of apparent desolation. Bril- 
liant flowers of the evening before were a mass of wilted ruins and the splendid 
tall bluegrass, that looked a delicious morsel for stock at sunset, was bent and 
sometimes broken with its weight of a night's winter. But an hour of sunshine 
always changed the scene to one of springtime freshness, and often the flora 
seeming the most delicate rallies first under its magic influence. Scarcely a 
week passes without heavy frost, yet, strange as it may appear, flowers bloom 
throughout the season, and strawberries ripen even to the height of 10,000 feet 
above the sea, and in close proximity to the eternal snows. In Switzerland the re- 
gions of perpetual snow begin at 6,500 feet above the sea; here at 11,000 to 12,000. 
The head of the Park is two miles higher than Boston, and the air is remark- 
able for its "lightness." Heart and pulse beat free and fast, and the whole 
system seems charged with a healthy stimulus. ^ 

Camping Out. — A trip to North Park of course necessitates calmping out, and 
its many grassy, sheltered nooks, its beautiful brooks and springs, and the abun- 
dance of timber, combine to render it the place of all others for such enjoyable 
experience. Outfitting should be done at Laramie. If the party consists of four 
or more, buy a double team (or hire one if the trip is to be made quickly) and 
canvas covered wagon. The cost, if these are purchased, will be from $250 to 
$400. If properly cared for they can be sold on the return for nearly as much 
as they originally cost. A tent can be dispensed with if there are no ladies in 
the party, as the rougher sex can sleep in or under the wagon. It never pays to 
stint on bedding — the nights are emphatically cool. If the tent is required it 
will cost $20, and can also be sold on returning. A sheet iron camp stove, skil- 
lets, coffee pot, and tin cup, plate, knife, fork and spoon for each person, with 
butcher knives and axes, are the necessary items for the backwoods kitchen. 
For a period of one month a party of four should have the following eatables: 
20 pounds of breakfast bacon, 20 pounds ham, 50 pounds crackers, 75 pounds 
flour, 50 pounds potatoes, 1 dozen cans condensed milk, 30 pounds sugar, 10 
pounds salt, 2 cans pepper, 2 pounds candles, 5 boxes matches, 2 pounds yeast 
powder, 10 pounds onions, 10 pounds roasted coffee, 20 pounds corn meal, 20 
1 ounds navy beans, 3 pounds tea, 5 pounds lard, or equivalent in salt pork. 
Some of these items may look large, but it is safe to calculate on aU appetites 



80 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

doubling inside of forty-oiglit hours from the start. This is what might be 
termed "comfortable camping out." The cost of the entire outfit, including 
probable loss on team and tent will reach about $120, or $30 per man. A 
wagon and team, with driver, could be hired by the week at from $5 to $7 
per day. Board at Laramie, $4 per day. August, September and October are 
the best months for a jaunt of this kind. 

Among other resorts near Laramie City are Dale Creek, the upper Cache 
la Poudre and Sand Creek, all within a day's drive. In the stream first 
named trout fishmg is good, and Sand Creek waters one of the most pictu- 
resque valleys imaginable. Its high, rocky w^Us, its interminable windings, 
and its grassy banks, present pictures we can never forget. It rises among 
the mountains which form the southern boundary of the Laramie plains, flows 
northward to within ten miles of the city, and empties into the Laramie 
river. We camped one night at the first available point, without regard to 
Nature's attractions. A broad ledge of smooth, flat granite there formed 
the creek-bed, and above that, on one side, another, wide enough for a danc- 
ing-floor, served for our table (one corner of it, at least). Just below, the 
breadth of thick, tall grass reminded us of a Kentucky meadow; while fifty 
yards above was a foaming cataract, which, after leaping from a rocky basin 
thirty feet in diameter, dashed its crystal body into an abyss over which we 
easily leaped. Then for an instant the stream was lost to view under a nat- 
ural bridge, composed of one solid block of granite some twenty-five feet 
square, and weighing thousands of tons. Wherever there was room between 
the immense slabs of rock, graceful clumps of willows nodded affectionately 
over the stream, and often a huge wide-branching cottonwood flung grateful 
shade over all. Bordering the valley were high battlements of red limestone, 
so unbroken and perpendicular that we were obliged to travel several miles 
down stream to find an opening for our saddle-horses. Standing out in lonelj' 
grandeur, high above all the rest, was one mass which closely resembled the 
ancient ruins we often see pictured, and which, if properly stationed on one 
of Britain's isles, would answer well for the remains of an old-time castle. 
We had rare antelope huntiffg near here. 

North Platte River. — At Fort Steele, 695 miles from Omaha, the railway 
for the second time crosses the North Platte. It is here really a "mountain 
stream," as it sweeps down freshly from the snowy ranges of the south. It 
is clear, deep and cold, and flows over a gravelly bed, contrasting strongly and 
beautifully with its shifting sands, slower current and less picturesque bottoms 
which we first encountered 600 miles behind as we entered the Great Plains. 
The Platte affords rare sport for the angler. Pike, perch, catfish, suckers, etc., 
abound in its waters, and although not quite so gamy as the trout, oftener attain 
good size. Geese and ducks are very plentiful, and of course we had good deer 
and antelope hunting here, anywhere within a dozen miles of the track. We 
passed over grazing lands here not a whit behind those of the Laramie Plains. 
Ranchmen are becoming quite numerous, and some very large herds of cattle 
are owned along the river and its tributaries. An enterprising pioneer, located 
some twenty miles up the river, is proving the value of Platte Valley soil at this 
altitude. He raised some 60,000 pounds of potatoes in 1877, and sold them at 
the railroad for from three to five cents per pound. His experiments with other 
vegetables demonstrated the fact that all roots can be grown with wonderful 



LARAMIE PLAINS AND NORTH PARK. 81 

success. He is paving the way for thousands of others who will soon settle 
along this splendid vallej- when its advantages are better laiown. This is quite 
a point of shipment for ties, thousands being cut in the great forests along the 
Upper Platte and floated down to Fort Steele annually. 

Eau-Ii,:s is the county seat of Carbon county, and the principal outfitting and 
transfer point for the Snake River settlement, 75 miles south, as well as for the 
Ferris and Seminole mining districts, 40 miles north. It has a population of 
about 800, who are largely dependent upon the railway business here growing 
out of extensive machine shops, round-house, etc. Resources are numerous 
and valuable enough hereabouts to build up a lai-ge and thriving city. Two 
miles north of town are large deposits of red hematite — iron ore — which are 
becoming extensively utilized in the manufacture of paint. Two companies 
have opened mines, and have built mills to work up the ore. About 200 tons 
of metallic paint have been marufastured. The product is of such superior 
quality that different railways use it for outside work where a thoroughly water 
and rust- proof paint is desired. The deep red freight and flat cars and the sta- 
tion houses we saw all along the line are coated with this. We saw great piles 
of the ore lying along the track waiting shipment westward. Something like 
25,000 tons of this have been shipped to Utah, where it is used as a flux for 
smelting silver ores. The Ferris and Seminole mines, already alluded to, are 
undoubtedly rich in gold, silver and copper. Over 100 claims have been located 
and several true fissure veins are now being developed. Ores run in value from 
$100 to $200 per ton. In a dozen of the mines, carrying a large percentage of 
gold, beautiful specimens of free gold quartz have been taken. The "Ernest," 
" Slattery " and " Mammoth " are among the principal mines. There are good 
wagon roads from Rawlins to these districts, one of them passing on northward 
to the Big Horn Region. Soda beds, similar to those near Laramie, are also 
found within 60 miles of Rawlins to the north. The country adjacent and south 
into Snake River Valley is well stocked with cattle. Shipping facilities being 
very good at Rawlins, cattle are driven here in great numbers and sent upon their 
journey eastward. During the writer's visit one firm made a sale of beef cattle 
to be delivered here the consideration of which was $52,000. Many Montana 
ranchmen seek this outlet for their beef. Rawlins is 709 miles from Omaha. 

Forty miles south of town, near the North Platte, are some hot springs 
which bid fair to attract much attention in the near future. Iron, sulphur and 
magnesia predominate in the waters, the latter reaching the high temperature 
of 130 degrees. A few buildings of rather inferior quality have been erected for 
the accommodation of visitors. Good fishing and hunting are side attractions 
here. The wagon road from Rawlins is very fair, and livery can be obtained at 
from $4 to $6 per day. Board at Rawlins, $2 to $3. A mile east of town is a 
large sulphur spring, almost unnoticed, because unknown. These multitudes 
of attractions in the Rockies seem to appeal to us mutely now at every turn for 
the attention and homage that will be richly lavished upon them in years to 
come. 

To the Big Horn. — At Rawlins you can ordinarily meet several old trappers 
or scouts who have been in the Big Horn region and who declare the route from 
here to be superior to any other. These men have led European hunting parties 
in that direction, and the English nobility, especially, always come back wildly 
enthusiastic and glutted with glories of the chase. Aside from the reputation 
G 



82 TO THE KOCKIES AND liEYOSl). 

of the Big Horn region as a golden mecca for the miner, we can again say from 
persona! knowledge, that the country is prolific in beautiful and fertile valleys, 
in vast and unexcelled stock ranges, in magnificent scenery, and is alive wiV 
large and small game. Following are distances and camping places on one or 
the Rawlins routes. The last 125 miles is lined with good camp grounds: 

Miles. 

From Rawlins to Brown's Canon 12 

Brown's Canon to Seminole 2S 

Seminole to Sand Creek 10 

Sand Creek to Sweetwater River 15 

Sweetwater River (bridged over) to Rattlesnake Hans^e 16 

Across Range to Poison Springs Creek 8 

Poison Springs Creek to Cloud Peak 125 

Total 209 

Ponies and outfitting goods of all descriptions can be purchased at Rawlins, 
and parties in need of a good guide should always look up Tom Sun, an old 
hunter and government scout, who knows the country thoroughly and is just 
the man to chaperon a hunting or exploring party. His address is Rawlins. 

Snake River Valley. — We spent a week most delightfully with the hospit- 
able settlers of Snake River Valley, trout-fishing, hunting and exploring among 
the hills. The valley is about 75 miles south of Rawlins by a good wagon road, 
was first settled six years ago and now contains 300 of as thrifty, "well-fixed " 
and contented denizens as one could wish to see. Snake River rises among the 
snowy gulches of Hans Peak, and flows southwestward 125 miles to its junction 
with Bear River. It and its numerous snow-fed tributaries are full of trout and 
the bluffs along its lower length, or the mountains at its head, abound in elk and 
deer. The best grizzly bear hunting in the whole west is near its headwaters, 
but we hunted gi'izzly bears with a well organized platoon of sharp-shooters 
and recommend that their rights to all country which they may have i^re-empted 
be declared sacred and inalienable. 

Wheat, oats and potatoes are produced in the valley quite extensively. 
Dairying is also a favorite and very profitable pursuit, and some 10,000 head of 
good beef cattle are grazed here. Coal of a superior quality is very plentiful; 
aU varieties of mountain timber ditto. Dixon is the principal post office, distant 
from Rawlins 80 miles. Accommodations can be secured at different ranches at 
from $8 to $10 per week. 

Looking out over the desolate expanse of sand and sage brush at Rawlins, 
Green River and other points the visitor can hardly believe that Wyoming pos- 
sesses such a wealth of farm and pasture lands as has been credited her. Hav- 
ing ridden on horseback lengthwise of the territory from end to end by two 
different routes, and across the broad domain north and south the same way, the 
writer feels thoroughly justified in saying that it tvoitld hare been impossible to 
select another such an apparently barren route for the railway. The Platte, 
Sweetwater, Wind, Yellowstone, Laramie, Powder, Big Horn, and other splen- 
did water courses tO the north, with their numberless tributaries, furnish the 
most beautiful and productive vallej's in the Rocky Mountain region, with 
millions of broad and fertile acres unclaimed and to be had for the simple tak- 
ing. The throngs of tourists and emigrants hastily passing through should 
remember these important facts and not take it fbr granted that sections which 



THROUGH WESTERN WYOMING. 83 

cannot be seen — because a better railroad grade has carried them hither — are 
also of this forbidding nature. The few occupied valleys of Montana, all north 
of Wyoming's agricultural belts, and depending upon irrigation, produce about 
three million bushels of grain and potatoes annually, which, with other farm 
productions, sell at home for over five million dollars. The finest beef also comes 
from the all-the-year grazing lands of that northern latitude, and is only one 
among the many other points illustrating the capacity of Wyoming's equally 
creditable but unsettled plains and valleys. 

The Rock Springs Coal Mines. — Among all the vast resources of this west- 
ern country which are made to pour out wealth and add to the nation's prosper- 
ity through the enterprise of the Union Pacific Railway Company, few are more 
important or more thoroughly utilized than the great coal measures. We passed 
through an essentially coal formation for hundreds of miles, and here at Rock 
Springs, 831 miles from Omaha, had a fair illustration of its value as well as of 
the company's gigantic "side enterprises." There are several veins of semi- 
bituminous coal here, ranging in thickness from four to ten feet and extending 
far back into the hills. The coal cokes fairly, and, as ordinarily consumed,burns 
into fine ashes without clinkers. It is especially Uked for blacksmithing, smelt- 
ing and steam-generating purposes, and is not only eagerly sought far to the 
west, but is about the only coal consumed along the line eastward to Omaha 
and sells largely in Colorado. About 150,000 tons were mined here in 1877, 
selling on the track at $1.75 to $3 per ton, and at distant points at an average 
of $5. One hundred and fifty white men and the same number of Chinamen 
are employed the year round. Engines, hoisting apparatus and interior arrange- 
ments are models of system and completeness. Rock Springs is a village of 500 
people. Besides the life given it by these great mining enterprises, it has at- 
tained considerable importance as a cattle-shipping point. 

Green River Citij. — Fifteen miles west of Rock Springs is Green River City, 
the end of a regular division of the road, and therefore possessing machine 
shops, round-houses, and other pxcessories of a railroad town. It is also the 
county seat of Sweetwater county — an empire of wealth and beauty in itself — 
which boasts an area of 30,000 square miles. Sweetwater is the banner agricul- 
tural county of Wyoming, nearly every variety of small grain and vegetables 
being regularly produced in the northern valleys. The government purchases 
all the grain and much of the produce offered for sale and pays good prices, giv- 
ing eastern prices with cost of transportation added. This is consumed at Camps 
Stambaugh and Brown, in the vicinity. The rich Sweetwater and Wind river 
gold mines arc located in this county, from 100 to 150 miles north of Green River 
City. A large proportion of the Big Horn range, with its vast undeveloped 
wealth, occupies the northern end of the county. 

The Wind River and Sweetwater Regions. — The quartz and placer mining 
districts of Sweetwater, South Pass and Wind River cover an area of about 
3,000 square miles. A dozen years ago one of the wildest of western stampedes 
occurred to those mines on the strength of immensely rich placer and quartz dis- 
coveries. From one of the quartz mines $300,000 in gold was quickly taken by 
means of the rudest appliances, and we know of one man, W. C. Erwin, who 
rode out to Cheyenne with 65 pounds of gold dust from the placers. But the 
Indians were jealous of this little army of treasure-seekers, and soon discouraged 
mining operations by killing the pioneers on every hand. The richer gulches 



84 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

were also soon worked out and miners did not care to risk their scalps in those 
days for a paltry four or five dollars a day. Renewed attention is now being 
attracted to these mines by the discovery of new and richer ones. Near Two- 
Ocean Pass and on Clark's Fork, a little beyond the old districts, valuable quartz 
and gulch mines were discovered in the summer of 1877, and strong mining 
camps are now organized there. Eight or ten stamp mills are in operation in 
the old and new districts crushing the rich free gold ores. It is generally believed 
that great mineral belts are to be found m the mountains still northward, as re- 
liable explorers claim to have found such belts in their wanderings there. The 
speedy settlement of the Indian troubles along that border will undoubtedly 
result in a very rapid development of northern Wyoming, as it is at once the 
great mineral country and the garden spot of the territory. 

Near Camp Brown, 155 miles north of Green River City, are hot springs of 
unusual merit. The water is forced upward through numei'ous orifices in the 
bottom of a pool or basin, which covers 6,000 square feet, and a large stream is 
constantly discharged into the ice-cold current of Little Wind river, near by. 
Carbonic acid and chloride of lime are given off abundantly, the temperature 
running from 100 to 120. Rheumatic affections and diseases of the skin are 
often eradicated by a short season of bathing. The Shoshone Indians, whose 
agency is located here, have an interesting tradition, making this out the myth- 
ical "fountain of youth." A good bath-house is at hand. Daily stages from 
Green River City; fare, $37; accommodations along the line, and at Camp 
lirown $2.50 to $3 per day. Trout fishing is superb in numerous streams. 
Hunting is also first-class in the mountains away from the immediate vicinity of 
the agency. 

Stages — " Sweetwater Daily Stage Line " — run nearer the Big Horn region 
from Green River City than from any other point and traverse a tolerably well 
settled country the entire distance. FoUovring are the principal camps, the 
stages running as far as Camp Brown: 

From Miles. 

Green River to Alkali Station 21 

Alkali Station to McCoy's Ranch 27 

McCoy's Ranch to Dry Sandy 22 

Dry Sandy to South Pass City 25 

South Pass City to Camp Stambaugh 23 

Camp Stambaugh to Lander City 29 

Lander City to Camp Brown 14 

Camp Brown to Cloud Peak, Big Horn Mountains 149 

Total. 310 

This is also one of the routes to Yellowstone National Park. The tourist 
takes stages ^f this line to Camp Brown, and there outfits with ponies, pack ani- 
mals, etc. The wagon road was not completed from Camp Brown in January/ 
1878, but extended 100 miles up Wind River Valley, from which point a trail 
led to the Park, about 60 miles distant. The wagon road was to be built to the 
Park during the spring of 1878. 

Unique and beautiful petrifactions and fossils are found in the vicinity of Green 
River City, and several canons through which the river passes below town 
are worthy of extended notice, but tempus fugit. 

Leroy Mineral Spring. — Two and a half miles west of Leroy, the latter be- 



THROUGH WESTERN" WYOMING. »5 

ing on the Union Pacific road, 919 miles from Omaha, is the Leroy IVlineral 
Spring. The water is quite extensively quoted in western Wyoming on account 
of its medicinal virtues, and testimonials from surgeons of the army and others 
are not wanting to prove that the spot will soon be much sought on account of 
the spring alone. The water is highly recommended for the cure of dyspepsia 
and toning-up of the system. The following is an analysis of the water as made 
by Assistant Surgeon Smart, of the United States Army. It should be stated, 
however, that the vexy important element of carbonic acid could not be deter- 
mined, as much of this had escaped while the water was in transit from the 

spring to Camp Douglas, Utah : 

Grains, per gallon. 

Carbonate of Magnesia 50.680 

Carbonate of Lime 58.674 

Sulphate of Lime. . . .- 41.104 

Sulphate of Soda (Glauber's salts) 116.655 

Chloride of Sodium (common salt) 270.200 

Iron and alumina 1.162 

Total 538.475 

Potassium is also present in small quantity. 

Trains often stop at the spring to enable passengers to drink the water, and 
we have enjoyed several refreshing draughts here. The valleys and bluffs sur- 
rounding abound in agates and petrifactions, while iron, soda and fresh water 
springs are numerous and often located near together. A little further west, 
near Piedmont, is a cluster of remarkable soda springs. The sediment thrown 
out by the principal one has built up a beautiful, conical- shaped body some fif- 
teen feet high. The water is very pleasant to the taste, and undoubtedly bene- 
ficial for certain complaints. 

Great Flume and Lumber Enterprise. — At Hilliard, 943 miles from Omaha, 
the railroad passes under an elevated flume, said to be the longest in the west- 
ern country. It was constructed by Salt Lake capitalists, about three years ago, 
as a means of transit for lumber, wood and ties from the heavy forests in the 
Uintah mountains, thirty miles southward, to the track. The flume is twenty- 
eight miles long, four feet across the top and constructed in a V shape to facUi- 
tate the descent of its valuable freight. It required the work of 700 men for 
three months to complete it, and cost altogether $250,000. Among items used 
in its construction were 2,500,000 feet of lumber, 5,000,000 feet of timber, and 
100 tons of nails. Its fall is from 100 to 300 feet to the mile, and when nearly 
full of water the timber thrown into it descends with astonishing velocity. Dur- 
ing forty days of the season of 1877 18,000 cords of wood were floated down to 
Hilliard in addition to other products of the pineries. The same company owns 
a saw mill at the head of the flume which turns out some 35,000 feet of lumber 
daily. 
I The cord wood is strewn along in sight of the track in a pile 20 feet high and 
a mile long. It is used in the manufacture of charcoal. Twenty-nine kilns 
were at work during our visit and produced in 1877 2,000,000 bushels of char- 
coal. This important product is shipped principally to the smelting works of 
Utah, but is also partially utilized here at Hilliard by a small smelter. For the 
six months ending January 1, 1878, the smelter produced 1,187 tons of bulUon 
from Utah ores, worth $160 per ton. 



86 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

Bear River and Valley.— The clear mountain water used by the Hilliard 
flume is from Bear river, and soon after leavmg Hilliard we entered the beauti- 
ful valley of this stream. The river rises in spurs of the Uintah mountains, 30 
or 40 miles southward, tiows through a rugged and inviting country for the 
sportsman and tourist northward 150 miles into Idaho. There, making an abrupt 
bend, it turns almost directly southward again, and finally empties into Great 
Salt Lake. At places the valley is five to ten miles wide, thickly settled with 
MoiTnon farmers and stock growers, and then, suddenly contracting into roman- 
tic defiles, is as wild and quiet as any huntsman or angler could wish. Where 
the soil is cultivated bountiful crops of wheat, lye, oats, barley and hardy vege- 
tables are produced. Stock in Bear River Valley presents a wonderfully differ- 
ent appearance from that on the plains. Instead of commencing with Texas 
cattle and Mexican sheep, the ranchmen almost invariably started with a small 
nucleus of American cows and good graded sheep. By steadily improving these 
they have finally produced a grade of beef, mutton and wool which is always 
eagerly picked up by dealers in such articles at very superior prices. Dairying 
is at many points a leading and lucrative pursuit. Cattle and sheep are gener- 
ally fed and sheltered during winter in the upper half of the valley. 

Evanston, 957 miles from Omaha, is located in this valley, at an altitude ot 
t),770 feet. It is the last town of importance in western Wyoming, and is the 
county seat of Uintah county. Another division of our great railway ends here, 
and we notice, in consequence, an immense 20-stall round-house and large car 
and machine shops. The town contains 1,200 inhabitants, is well built, and one 
of the most prosperous stations on the line of the Union Pacific. It is the desig- 
nated shipping point for a large proportion of the Montana cattle which find a 
Southern market. Two companies add largely to the thrift of the place by their 
extensive operations in the lumber and charcoal business. The Evanston Lum- 
bering Company cut about 1,500,000 feet of lumber in 1877 and produced a large 
quantity of charcoal. Bear River here furnishes a splendid water-power, and 
the town by its superior facilities for manufacturing and the enterprise of its 
citizens, must soon become an important center for this interest. 

Fuel for the Whole West. — Two or three miles west of Evanston are the 
most extensively worked coal deposits in the western mountain region. The 
veins are from 20 to 35 feet in thickness, and are being worked by 400 miners. The 
Union Pacific Company, with other corporations, are producing about 300,000 
tons of coal per annum. A large percentage of that finds its way to Utah, 
Nevada and California. From the statements made in these pages it will be 
seen that the immense coal measures of the Union Pacific Railway stippli/ nearly 
the entire northern half of the great trans-Missouri region with fuel. The 
" bonanza " silver mines of Nevada, the gold fields of California, the gold and 
silver belts of Colorado, and the great wheat lands and pastures of Wyoming 
and Nebraska all in the end pay important tribute to these never-ending depos- 
its of lignites. 

Forty miles southeast of Evanston is a perfect mountain of sulphur. The 
immense deposit carries from 50 to 90 per cent of pure sulphur. A United 
States patent has been secured on the property by a company of western gentle- 
men. Flowing oil springs also have been discovered ten miles east of Evanston 
and are in process of utilization. The surface oil, which has been draining 




Gate ok Ladoke, Colorado Rivkk. 



88 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

away in copious quantities, is found to be equal to the best of heavy lubri- 
cating oils for stationary or locomotive engines. 

Unexcelled trout-fishmg in Bear river, rare hunting for large and small 
game m the vicinity, and most picturesque suiTOundings, combined with fine 
cold sulphur springs within half a mile of town, and a pure mountain atmos- 
phere, render Evanston a point much sought by tourists and health-seekers. 
At the "Mountain Trout House" the visitor can enjoy a bill of fare, which 
we wiU guarantee will change his entire make-up in one twentieth of the 
seven-year period which scientists have allowed for such a seemingly diflBcult 
feat. Venison, elk, antelope, ducks, mountain grouse and other game, and 
the ever welcome mountain trout, are always on the table in season. While 
upon the subject we should add that Union Pacific Railway eating-houses are 
proverbially sensible and lavish upon this point of furnishing their guests 
with game. You therefore not only enjoy one continual round of novel ex- 
periences, wonderful and romantic attractions, and breathe the air at an alLi- 
tude wher(? disease cannot originate, but you can glide royally and lazily on- 
ward in your palace car, and feast on the luxuries of the country, whether 
you are inclined to hunt them or not. 

Board at Evanston, $2.50 to $4; livery, $5 to $7. Good wagon roads up 
or down the valley, and easy bridle trails among the blutfs. Camping out 
is as enjoyable from here as from any point on the road; outfitting about the 
same expense as at Laramie City, provisions from the east costing more, but 
ranch produce a little less. Yellowstone Park is 290 miles due north of 
Evanston, and can be reached by good roads half way, and trails the re- 
mainder of the distance. 

Echo and Weber Canons. — It does seem a Uttle unfortunate that finan- 
cial and other considerations will not always permit railways to pass through 
nature's most beautiful pathways. The tourist should remember that to get 
the fidl benefit of his trip he must occasionally climb the mountains, explore 
the canons, and dive into the mysteries of an enchanting region which otherwise 
he only gets a glimpse of. In passing through Echo and Weber canonic, 
however, the Union Pacific treats its patrons to views which in themselves 
are well worth a trip across the continent, and if you are among the kind 
who cannot tarry, here is the place among all others to open your eyes to 
the glories of the immediate surroundings. For sixty miles we had a perfect 
kaleidoscope of novelties, covering all the grounds of natural beauty, wild- 
ness, grandeur, sublimity, until we were fairly tired of looking. In such small 
space the writer can only attract attention to a few striking features of the 
wonderful dash down through these famous gorges, with the passing observa- 
tion that the name of those unmentioned is "legion." 

Echo Canon is really entered at Wasatch, 968 miles from Omaha. The 
bright red sandstone crags soon greet you on either side, and assume shapes 
so wonderiuUy fantastic that you can imagine them almost anything. Plung- 
ing through a tunnel, we had in quick succession "Castle Rock," with its 
arched doorway, giant pillars and frowning battlements; "Needle Rocks," 
sharp pointed and standing out against the sky like a group of old chui'ch 
spires; " Winged Rock," a ledge surmounted with a mass of sandstone which, 
from our point of view, resembled the wings of some feathered monster; 
"Steamboat Rock," named from the immense crag jutting out like the prow 



THROUGH WESTERN WYOMIXG. 89 

of a steamer, with the flag of old Ireland (a cedar in its perpetual green) 
planted firmly and with never fading colors; "Sentinel Rock," rising up 
grimly and alone, as if to survey the march of progress ; and hundreds of 
others. It is the grandest place in the world for the exercise of imagination. 
Think of any form or figure, animate or inanimate, and it will rise up clearly 
among these splintered, weather-worn, gnarled old rocks of Echo and Weber 
canons, if you give a lively fancy one half its wonted play. Echo Canon was 
well named, for the shrill whistle of our engine and the softer ringing of the 
bell seemed thrown from wall to wall and intermingled with the steady hum 
and rattle of our wheels, untO. a wild and almost deafening Babel of sounds 
rose from the level of the pi-etty stream to the summits of the awful cliffs. 
These "Witches," "Cathedrals," "Devil's Punch Bowls," "Pulpit Rocks," 
"Swallows' Nests," "Girls of the Period," and their thousand mocking rein- 
forcements along the battlements then seemed to hurl back the refrain upon 
our humble heads as only such a miscellaneous array of talent could. 

At Echo City — which is located in a perfect little fairy glen — we entered 
Weber Valley, and found cosy rural homes clustered along one of the most 
beautiful of all western rivers. From here the Summit County Narrow-Gauge 
Railway leads up Weber Valley to Coalville, 7 miles, where some coal niines 
are being worked. These streams are full of trout, and waterfowl seem espe- 
cially fond of the surroundings, for we saw them on the river as we passed 
swiftly along. It would be difficult to find a more dehghtful spot for a few 
days' sojourn than here. Of course one would have to put up with plain 
farmhouse living, but having entered the land of fruit and flowers, one would 
at least enjoy them with the luxuries of fresh mountain trout and small game. 
The canon above, with its queerly grouped walls from 500 to 800 feet high, 
and the dozens of side defiles and rocky amphitheaters, together with the 
finny beauties in the clear ■ and rushing waters, would furnish room for a 
week's delightful exploration. 

Weber Canon has its multitude of attractions, as well as Echo. The 
rocks change in color to a deep gray, and are less extravagantly shaped, as 
a rule, than those left behind, still often rising to prodigious heights, and 
narrowing sometimes to the river's edge on either side. The "Devil's Slide, 
probably the most remarkable rock formation to be found between the oceans, 
is soon noticed on the left. It consists of two parallel ledges of granite jut- 
ting straight up along the mountain side 14 feet apart, and at times 50 feet 
high. The Thousand Mile Tree — 1,000 miles from Omaha— will be noticed 
near by, with its very distinct label. 



90 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 



CHAPTER V. 

UTAH TERRITORY — WEALTH, DEVELOPMENTS AND ATTRAC- 
TIONS—THE MORMON CAPITAL. 

Having fairly entered the Territory of Utah, we informed ourselves in a 
general way of its natural features, advantages, etc. Its area is something over 
84,000 square miles, or 54,000,000 acres, embracing every variety of mountain 
and valley scenery, and probably a greater diversity of climate than any re- 
gion of similar extent east of California. Cultivation of the soil is carried on 
almost exclusively by the aid of irrigation, the melting snows of the moun- 
tains affording sufficient watar to render most of the valleys highly product- 
ive. The soil is to a very great extent formed of rich washings from the 
mountains, and consists principally of a gravelly loam. Wheat is the great 
staple production, twenty-five bushels per acre being the average yield, and 
sixty to seventy bushels is not an uncommon result in favored localities. Oats, 
rye, barley and flax are also cultivated with great success, and all kinds of 
hardy vegetables grow astonishingly large, and of superior quality. No sec- 
tion can surpass Utah in the yield and quality of potatoes. In the semi- 
tropical climate of southern Utah cotton has been quite extensively produced. 
During the civil war a considerable quantity of this was exported by wagon 
over the mountains and plains, 2,000 miles, to eastern states, at remunerative 
prices. The southern counties also produce figs, madder, indigo, grapes and 
almonds. Indeed, fruit raising in all the valleys, north and south, is one of 
the most important items. Apples, pears, peaclies, apricots, plums, grapes, 
currants and other fruits, are produced to such an extent that they have be- 
come important items of export to distant states. Stock raising is generally 
engaged in, and returns large profits. 

Mining. — The mountains of Utah are found to contain exceptionally large 
deposits of silver, lead, copper, iron and coal; and in some localities gold, an- 
timony and cinnabar are present in sufficient quantities to pay for worldng. 
Salt is shoveled from the shores of Salt Lake by the ton, and sulphur, salt- 
peter, gypsum, plumbago, soda, rock salt, marble, slate and limestone are 
among kindred resources. Utah now claims to be third in the list of states 
and territories yielding the precious metals. Her ores are generally very easily 
produced, often lying in largest deposits near lines of her splendid system of 
railways. They are easily worked as a rule, and dozens of mills and smelt- 
ers are already in successful operation within a few miles of the most noted 
mines. Rich discoveries are constantly reported from the more remote dis- 
tricts. Some of these, in the southern portion of the territory, consist of im- 
mense deposits of a high grade of silver ores. 

Maniifactitring. — Utah leads all other territories in the value and diver- 
sity of her manufacturing enterprises. Home production has been the golden 
maxim, and it is doubted whether any community in the land comes nearer 
perfect independence by producing all articles of common use. Water-pow- 
ers are unrivaled all over the territory, hundreds of mountain streams leap- 



SAUNTERINGS IN UTAH. 91 

ing from the canons, and needing only slight expense to utilize them. There 
are a number of woolen mills manufacturing the fleece from her flocks into 
fabrics which are not only made up and worn at home, but also find market 
abroad. Then there are tanneries, shoe factories, foundries, planing mills, 
fire-brick and tile works, etc., all utilizing home products and stimulating 
home industry. 

Producfioiis and Development in 1877 . — The comparatively small beginning 
made here in the heart of the trans-Missouri region in 1847 has grown and 
expanded until now the settlements extend a distance of 350 miles north and 
south, and 250 east and west. The population is estimated at 140,000, an 
increase of 50,000 since 1870. There are eight lines of railway in the terri- 
tory, with a total of nearly 500 miles of track. The product of the mines 
in 1877 is reliably placed at $7,400,000, against $1,300,000 in 1870. Of this 
amount over $5,000,000 is in silver and $1,600,000 in lead, the other items 
being gold, copper matte and copper ore. The farm products of the same 
year were valued at over $10,000,000. Principal among these items were — 
wheat, 3,750,000 bushels; potatoes, 2,250,000 bushels; hay, 246,000 tons; dried 
peaches, 1,500,000 pounds; wool, 1,700,000 pounds. Live stock to the value 
of nearly $2,000,000 was marketed. Considerable wheat is exported, one com- 
mission house alone having shipped 100 car loads to Liverpool during 1877. 
The total productions of the territory for the year are valued at over $21,- 
000,000. These outlines will assist the reader in forming some idea of the 
wealth latent and developed in Utah. 

Climate, Scenery and Game. — Although one may experience the rigors of 
an arctic temperature on the mountain summits, or the crisp atmosphere of 
northwestern territories in the elevated valleys, we find in the great Salt 
Lake Basin a climate mild and agreeable almost the year round. The tem- 
perature, according to observations at Salt Lake City, seldom rises above 90 
degrees, or falls below zero. Along Great Salt Lake, which has a shore line 
of nearly 300 miles, and furnishes an horizon like the ocean itself — although 
4,200 feet above the sea — is to be found the most peculiar climate in the 
world, combining, as a local physician says, "the light, pure breezes of the 
neighboring mountains with that of the briny sea, thus enabling us to inhale 
a marine atmosphere as soft as on the Pacific shores, blended with a cool, 
Alpine air." Chroniv. affections rarely originate here. The climate is an 
almost certam panacea for asthma, and in cases of incipient consumption has 
worked wonders. Digestive disorders, nervous affections, etc., are often mod- 
ified, if not entirely cured. At Camp Douglas, three miles from Salt Lake 
City, only one death has been recorded in a period of four years, out of an 
average of 340 residents there. Numerous hot springs, and the waters of the 
great Dead Sea, afford delightful tonic baths. The hot sulphuretted waters 
of the springs are proverbially efficacious for rheumatic and blood diseases, 
while it has been discovered quite recently that salt water bathing in the 
lake is a positive cure for catarrhal and other affections. The territory is 
especially prolific in 

Fine Scenerij. — The greatest mountain-locked lakes are here; the most won- 
derful and pleasing features of caiion scenery are found in the defiles of the 
principal streams, and the valleys present most charming rural landscapes. 
A view of the great Mormon city itself, embowered in foliage and hemmed 



92 TO THE ROCKIF.S AND BEYOXD. 

in by high mountains on three sides, with its enchanting vista of the inland 
sea, is a picture never to be ofFaced from the mind. The most interesting 
point of it all is that all attractions are almost invariably near the line of the 
Union Pacific or adjacent to its branches and connecting lines, and can be 
taken in at slight effort and expense by a series of short railway excursions 
from Salt Lake City. 

The mountain streams and fresh water lakes are literally alive with trout, 
the angler often finding really fine fishing within stone's throw of the rail- 
way track. Mountains and forests, farther removed from civilization, and yet 
of easy access, abound in elk, deer, bears, foxes and beavers. The "grizzly," 
in all his pristine vigor, can be encountered at various points. The shores 
of the lakes are favorite resorts for innumerable geese, ducks, swans, pelicans, 
etc., and most of the streams furnish excellent hunting for that class of game. 
Sage-hens, grouse and rabbits are found in most of the valleys in great abun- 
dance. California quail have been introduced with success, and the prairie 
chicken has obtained a good start in the valleys of northern Utah. 

Certainly a rare combination of wealth and attractions are centered here. 
The mines, water powers, farm lands and pasturages are not yet half utilized. 
The beauties of scenery and value of climate and waters are almost unknown 
to the world. The huntsman and angler have scarcely made themselves man- 
ifest. In all of these items Utah stands out fresh, inviting, unexcelled. 

Ogden is the western terminus of the Union Pacific, and the first city of 
note we entered in Utah. It is 1,033 miles from Omaha, 36 miles from Salt 
Lake City, and 4,340 feet above the sea. From here the Central Pacific Rail- 
way leads westward 882 miles to San Francisco, and through passengers change 
to the silver palace cars of that noted California line. The Utah Northern 
Branch of the Union Pacific Railway (narrow-gauge) extending northward to 
Franklin, Idaho, and the Utah Central Branch of the Union Pacific (standard 
broad-gauge), running southward to Salt Lake City, combine with the great 
overland roads to render Ogden quite an important railway center. Ogden 
river has its exit from a lovely canon in the Wasatch mountains just back 
of town, and empties into the Weber four or five miles below. The city 
is thus abundantly supplied with water power, which is to some extent al- 
ready utilized by flouring mills, woolen mills, and other manufacturing enter- 
prises. The clear mountain water is also led through the streets, and is 
used everywhere for inigating purposes. The luxuriance of the foliage, 
splendid background of the rugged Wasatch range, and the broad, level 
streets, at once impress us pleasantly upon arrival. The environs are made 
up of some of the finest grain and fruit farms in Utah. The city claims 
6,000 inhabitants, has a number of Gentile as well as Mormon churches, and 
several public schools. We found first class hotel accommodations at Beards- 
ley's Railroad House, at the depot, where fish and game are nearly always 
appetizing features of the bill of fare; but the city proper, which is nearly a 
mile distant, lacks somewhat in this respect. 

Ores carrying gold, silver, lead, iron, antimony and tin have been found 
in the mountains within a radius of ten miles. Vast quantities of iron ore, 
yielding from 60 to 70 per cent of pure iron, are found within five miles. 
Saipy, the great manufacturer of iron and steel, says the magnetic ores here 
are the finest he has ever seen. The ores have only been utilized as a flux 



SAUNTERIKGS IN UTAH. 93 

for silver ores at the smelting works thus far, but Ogden people are fairly- 
charged with brilliant iron manufacturing enterprises, which must surely, ere 
long, be transferred from paper to matter-of-fact realization. The locality 
certainly presents superior inducements for the investment of capital in this 
and kindred institutions. A smelter for silver ores was in courcC of construc- 
tion during our visit. 

Ogden Canon. — No tourist can weU afford to pass this point and deny him- 
self a side trip through Ogden Canon. A drive of a dozen miles will enable one 
to view the most interesting features, and this can easily be accomplished in 
half a day. The scenes are not a whit less grand and beautiful than those of 
far more famous caiions. The river, a dozen yards wide, two or three feet deep 
and a perfect mirror of purity, affords every variety of cascade and eddy, of 
foaming surges against the monster boulders, and of placid pools beneath the 
shadows of crowding walls. It is alive with the gamiest of trout, and he must 
be a novice who fails to land plenty of these with tempting bait. Two or three 
miles up are some warm springs, and half a mile farther, in a pretty little 
wooded opening, are hot sulphur springs of pronounced value. At some of the 
narrow points the walls rise up almost vertically to the height of 1,500 feet and 
begrudge even room for roadway. The tops and sides of the mountains are still 
ornamented with the deep green foliage of the pines. The road is everywhere 
romantic in its meanderings at the water's edge or higher up under the very 
shades of the summits. Five or six miles up you suddenly emerge into a perfect 
little Eden of a valley, where the walls have retreated somewhat and left room 
for dozens of picturesque and cosy homes. There is quite a little village here 
along the river banks, and the inhabitants are certainly to be envied their tow- 
ering walls of granite, their tree-embowered homes and their royal exit to the 
world below. 

Taylor's Canon and Water Fall Cafion are also prominent attractions near 
Ogden. In the latter, we were told, a sheet of water makes one grand leap 
over the shelving rock into a wild abyss 400 feet below. About twenty miles 
north of the city, along the Utah Northern Railroad, is a very interesting and 
valuable gioup of hot springs. Enough water is emitted to furnish power for a 
large mill, and runs up in temperature to 136°. It looks perfectly clear, but is 
strongly charged with iron. Scenery in the vicinity is truly grand, and many- 
cold water spnngs in the neighborhood add to the attractiveness of the place. 
A climb up the mountains back of Ogden enables one to get a view taking in 
thousands of square miles of mountains, valley, and Great Salt Lake. There is 
a wealth of beauty and grandeur here in the vicinity of Ogden, but we must 
hasten to our notes leading southward. 

The Utah Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railway was completed 
from Ogden to Salt Lake City in 1870, and was the pioneer of Utah's local lines. 
Like the six railways which have since been built in the territory it was con- 
structed -without subsidy or land grant, the citizens putting their shoulders to 
the wheel of progress and going to the bottom of their pockets for the necessary 
funds. Connecting with the Utah Southern Railway at Salt Lake City this 
forms a straight north and south broad-gauge line along the richest mineral re- 
gion and through the finest farm and fruit lands in Utah 111 miles in length. 
This entire line has also been merged into the Union Pacific Railway system, 
through the enterprise of Mr. Gould. John Sharp, a Bishop of the Mormon 



TO THE KOCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

Church, is General Superintendent of the line. We found the road-bed one of 
the best in the west and the cars models of neatness and comfort — a state of 
affairs which was readily understood when we noticed the lively freight and pas- 
senger traffic and became better acquainted with the officers in charge. The 
following statement of freight business over the road in 1876 and 1877 will give 
the reader an idea of the importance of the Utah trade: 

1876. 1877. 

Freight received, ft. 196,499,010 188,985,005 

Freight forwarded, lb 76,978,279 91,794,898 

Total, lb 373,477,289 280,779,903 

In scanning over the items received we notice that coal, coke, building mate- 
rial and merchandise compose three-fourths of the tonnage, while base bullion 
and silver ore furnish four-fifths of the tonnage forwarded. The passenger traf- 
fic presents an equally gratifying status. Passenger fare, Ogden to Salt Lake, 
is $2. 

Southward from Ogden the road follows along the base of the Wasatch 
mountains all the way to Salt Lake City. The range is here very steep and rug- 
ged and sometimes cleft with great fissures or canons from summit almost to 
base. We soon reached the bench lands overlooking Great Salt Lake, and from 
this moment until we again left Utah were treated to never-ending panoramas 
of the American Dead Sea, its almost "thousand isles," and its depths of mir- 
rored mountains. Kaysville, 16 miles; Farmington, 21; Centerville, 25, and 
Wood's Cross, 27 miles from Ogden, were passed in rapid succession. They are 
the villages of thrifty Mormon farmers, usually almost buried in foliage, orchards 
and grain fields, and nestled under the sheltering walls of the Wasatch, with 
the glorious vista presented by the lake in front. With these great mountains 
rising up over the picturesque settlements on our left and the irregular shore line 
of the lake in almost constant view on our right, the vision was constantly 
strained and still unsatisfied. Near Kaysville the farmers have developed some- 
thing new in agriculture — new in this region at least. There are here and else- 
where vast tracts of " desert lands," or lands which ai-e so high above the stream 
that they can never be irrigated. Several years ago wheat was sown upon small 
patches of this seemingly arid and valueless soil. A tolerably fair crop was 
raised without artificial moisture or unusual rain, and now broad areas of this 
kind of land are being put under cultivation annually, producing as high as 
twenty bushels of wheat per acre. These are really warm alluvial soils formed 
by the crumbling of mountain ranges. 

SALT LAKE CITY. 

Thirty-six miles south of Ogden and 1,069 miles from Omaha is the beautiful 
*' City of the Saints." It has au altitude of 4,261 feet above the sea, or 43 feet above 
the great Lake. In claiming 30,000 population for it the citizens can scarcely be 
called extravagant, for indeed you hardly know when you enter or leave it. 
Coming or going in almost any way you penetrate, upon the outskhts, blocks 
upon blocks of cottage homes, each with its masses of flowers, its plots of rich 
green vegetables, and its graceful clumps of trees bending under the weight of 
luscious fruits. It is indeed the city of cottage homes, and it is declared by good. 



SAUNTERIXGS IN" UTAH. 95 

authority that the number of people who own the houses they Hve in is here 
greater in proportion to the population than in any city of the Union. Many of 
these within the city Uniits subsist entirely from their own fertile httle truck 
patches, which lend a rural air to their homos. The city is one perfect mass of 
foliage, blooming and blossoming "as the rose," where thirty-five years ago 
were only the sage-brush brakes and bench lands of the new edition of Jordan. 
Rows of giant ehu, mulberry, locust, or other varieties of shade trees now follow 
all the streets far out through the suburbs, and are continually refreshed by 
streams of pure mountain water which ripple musically along the broad side- 
walks everywhere. It is the universal edict of travelers that only one or two 
cities on the continent of like size command such unvarying charms and interest 
for oft-repeated visits. You might become almost tired of the world and vote 
every other resort a bore, but Salt Lake scenery. Salt Lake atmosphere and Salt 
Lake life would hold you with their pleasing peculiarities to visits twice a year 
for many years at a time. 

To start with, the city won our heartiest admiration for the charms nature 
has lavished. Spurs of the Wasatch mountains rise up to great height a few 
miles distant on the east and noi'th, the site sloping gently to the south, and 
there being washed by the waters of the Jordan. North of the city the mountain 
of the Prophecy — said to have been shown to Mormon leaders many years ago 
in a vision — towers grandly above the heights surrounding. West of the city, 
twelve miles, rise rugged ranges, marking the shores of the great Lake; and 
southward are the royal landmarks of the Wasatch range. Twin Peaks. Of course 
the chief attraction. Great Salt Lake, is always visible from elevated portions of 
the city, its bright bosom and crystal depths, constituting an eternal mirror for 
the glories of the mountain summits surrounding. Such views! and then a 
perfect network of drives among orchards, beautiful lawns and pretty rural 
homes, over hard, dry roads, are pleasures not to be overlooked. Then Salt 
Lake hotels greet the stranger with such an inviting and home-like air that he is 
constrained to call them "home," be his stay for a week or a month. There 
are several first-class houses, and any quantity of good comfortable places of 
lesser pretensions. Of course the " Walker House," G. S. Erb, proprietor, leads 
all hotels between Omaha and San Francisco in points of size, elegance and 
merits of cuisine. It is supphed with an elevator, water and gas on different 
floors, and is a model of convenience and system generally. Tlie " Townsend " 
is another house here ranked as first-class. The rates of these are only three 
dollars per day. Of the second-class houses the " White House," " Clift House," 
and " Valley House," can all be recommended. Their charges are two dollars 
and two dollars and a half per day. 

The SulpJmr Baths. — Being comfortably domiciled, a bath in the famous 
■warm sulphur springs, inside the city limits, is a proper luxury to indulge in. 
Street cars lead from all hotels to the bath-houses, as well as to other points of 
interest in the city; uniform fare, ten cents. The lukewarm waters are emitted 
in great quantity — 10,000 gallons per hour — at the foot of a spur of the Wa- 
satch, and are led directly into three or four large bath-houses. The tempera- 
ture ranges from 95° to 104°. Here we found the great plunge or swimming 
bath, a ladies' swimming bath and a smaller institution of the same sort for 
boys. In addition there are small rooms where the tub and shower-bath can 
be enjoyed privately, and Turkish, hot air and Russian baths to suit special 



96 TO THE ROCKIES AND BETOXD. 

cases. The pure warm sulphur water is constantly flowing through these apart- 
ments, so that there is the great merit of freshness and cleanliness to start with. 
But how can we describe the delicious sensations produced by a plunge in the 
waters of the great swimming-room. No bath could afford a more delightful 
feeling of ease, or impart a more healthy glow and animation to the whole sys- 
tem. Fifteen minutes here of splashing and diving and kicking up the great 
white flakes of sulphur which have formed upon the perfectly smooth floor, are 
■worth a hundred-mile trip — yes, a thousand, if such priceless luxuries were not 
so thickly distributed among our western mountains. Parlors, waiting rooms, 
and refreshments are not wanting; and the grassy lawn with its noble trees, 
render the spot one always to b^ remembered with pleasure. In the.se springs 
alone Salt Lake City possesses a luxury and an attraction which in years to come 
will add thousands to her number of visitors. Following is an analysis of the 
waterb as given by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, Chemist and Geologist, of Boston: 

"Three fluid ounces of the water, on evaporation to entire dryness in a platina 
capsule, gave 8.25 grains of solid, dry, saline matter. 

Carbonate of Lime and Magnesia 0.240 1.280 

Per Oxide of Iron .0.040 0.208 

Lime 0.545 2.907 

Chlorine 3.454 18.421 

Soda • 2.877 15.344 

Magnesia 0.370 2.073 

Sulphuric Acid 0.70S 3.748 

8229 43.981 

It is slightly charged with Hydro Sulphuric Acid Gas, and with Carbonic 
Acid Gas, and is a pleasant, saline, mineral water, having valuable properties 
belonging to Saline Sulphur Springs." 

A mile farther north, also right at the base of the mountain, are the hot sul- 
phur springs, which must never be overlooked. We emphasize the word hot 
because the water spurts out with great force at a temperature of 200° or more. 
Eggs thrust into the pools boil in about regulation time, and meat can be cooked 
thoroughly (and seasoned, too!) in an incredibly short period. Flowing out into 
the meadow near by the water has formed a pretty little lake, called Hot Springs 
Lake, a strange feature of which is the fact that trout and other fish have been 
seen in it, apparently flourishing in the tropical and sulphur-scented waters. 
Large volumes of steam are often noticeable over the spnngs and along the stream. 
The following is an analysis of these waters : 

Chloride of Sodium 0.8052 

" " Magnesium 0.0288 

" " Calcium 0.1096 

Sulphate of Lime O.C806 

Carbonate of Lime 0.0180 

Silica 0.0180 

1.0602 
Specific gravity, 1.1454. 

Two miles east of the city, and on high bench land overlooking it, is Camp 
Douglas, one of the best built and most beautifully located of all our military 
posts. Quarters for both officers and men are solidly constructed of the hand- 
some stone found in the mountains near by, and all have a never-failing supply 



SAUNTERINGS IX UTAH. 97 

of the purest of mountain water from Reel Butte Canon. A few miles below is 
Emigration Caflon, the entrance to which is only four miles from the city. Be- 
sides abounding in scenes of the wildest grandeur, it possesses great interest 
from the part it has played in Utah history. It furnished the first highway for 
the Mormon emigrants when they entered the valley thirty years ago, and 
founded the new Zion. Still, a few miles below, and six miles southeast of the 
city, is Parley's Canon. The scenery in this is especially bold and impressive, 
the mountain sides of the pass rising with wild abruptness from extremely nar- 
row gorges, and ornamented on their summits with maple, oak, pine and other 
graceful shrubbery. This leads to Parley's Park, and was the regular overland 
stage route before the iron horse made his appearance in these western wilds. 
Twenty miles up this canon is Park City, and the famous " Ontario " silver mine. 
This mine has risen so rapidly in the estimation of experts within the past year 
that it is really claimed to be only second to the great " Comstock " of Nevada. 
The " Ontario " produces $6,500 per day, month in and month out, and de- 
clared dividends of $50,000 per month in gold coin every month of 1877, besides 
paying for the building of hoisting works, mill, and the usual heavy mining ex- 
penses. $2,000,000 worth of ore were still in sight in January, 1878. In 1877, 
$2,195,280.80 worth of silver bullion were shipped. Tourists who cannot visit 
the mines should drop in at the Wells, Fargo & Go's office, at Salt Lake City, 
and see the beautiful silver bars which arrive by stage as regularly as clock work 
every day in the year. Mountain streams here are full of trout; elk, deer and 
bears are plentiful high up in the ranges surrounding, and there are many mar- 
velously rich mines. A week's jaunt here would be amply repaid. Daily 
stages; fare, $4. Hotels, $2.50 per day, and plenty of cosy rural homes in 
the Park where accommodations can be obtained still cheaper. • 

But, eager to view the mountain fastnesses, we "ran away with ourselves " 
without taking a thorough look at the city. The Tabernacle and unfinished 
Temple being centrally located, are generally first to be visited. The Taber- 
nacle is 250 X 250 feet, 80 feet to the roof, which is oval and without central sup- 
port, and there are 20 doors calculated to permit an exit of 12,000 people in six or 
seven minutes. The great organ, constructed entirely in Utah, and principally 
of Utah woods and metals, is 58 feet high, and contains 3,000 pipes. We took 
a three minute walk inside of this mammoth instrument to obtain a correct 
idea of its size, and must confess to no little astonishment. The Endowment 
House of which so much has been written, is in the same inclosure. Th 
Temple, near by, was commenced a quarter of a century ago. If ever finished, 
it will be 200 feet high, of proportionate size, and wonderfully massive build. 
The gi-anite for this is now carried direct from the quarries to the building by 
the railway, but for many years the immense blocks, weighing from five to ten 
tons each, were hauled thither by ox teams. The quarries are some 20 miles 
distant at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canon. 

The Museum is just opposite the Tabernacle, and is what it represents to be 
" Utah at a glance." Mineral specimens from Utah mines, and the products of 
Mormon industry are worthy of especial notice. Within a stone's throw are the 
former residences of Brigham Young, " Amelia Palace "—the elegant abiding 
place of the lady who in later years has been called the Prophet's favorite wife — 
and the mammoth " Co-op " store. This institution bears the sign, " Holiness 
to the Lord, Zion's Co-operative Mercantile Institution," as do others 
7 



i)8 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

in the city, and mingles a vast deal of business enterprise with its devotion to 
the Lord. It is 300 feet long, 45 feet wide, three stories high, and crowded with 
every conceivable line of merchandise. It carries a stock of $750,000 and pays 
freight on goods to the amount of $250,000 per annum. A drive about the city 
discloses many elegant residences with beautifully laid out lawns, flower and 
fruit gardens. One can often see in the same inclosure the apple, pear, peach, 
apricot, plum, grape, and other small fruits thriving luxuriantly. Large rows 
of splendid business blocks, a fine system of water works, gas and every kind 
of manufacturing enterprise in full blast, are a few of the evidences we saw at- 
testing the prosperity of the beautiful city. Three daily papers — the Tribune, 
vigorously Gentile, Herald, liberal, and News, the devoted organ of the Mormon 
Church, are published here. Four or five railroads really concentrate here, and 
Salt Lake is to all this great interior basin what Denver is to its grand scope of 
tributary country. Its resources in mines and farming lands are incalculable, 
while its exquisite charms for those in quest of health or pleasure are matters of 
world-wide acknowledgment. 

Big Cottonwood Canon. — A pleasant two or three days' trip off the beaten 
line of railways, is to Silver Springs, a favorite summer resort in Big Cotton- 
wood Caiion, 24 miles from the city. It is the heart of the Big Cottonwood sil- 
ver mining district, and is approached by a mountain road which has few supe- 
riors for picturesqueness. Silver Lake, five miles from the village, is one of the 
chief attractions. It is one of the handsomest of all our mountain-locked sheets, 
has facilities for boating and affords excellent fishing. At Argenta, Silver 
Springs and Brighton's are quite good summer hotel accommodations. The 
great Carbonate mine, which is in itself a mountain of ore, yielding as high as 
$65 per ton in silver and 90 per cent lead, is located in the neighborhood. 
Many other good mines are also found here. There are tri- weekly stages; fare 
from Salt Lake, $3. 

Eailwatj Excursions. — Leading southward from Salt Lake City — a continua- 
tion of the Utah Central Railroad — is the Utah Southern Branch of the Union 
Pacific. It penetrates the best mining and agricultural section of central Utah, 
and controls the freight and passenger business of the southern part of the ter- 
ritory and southern Nevada, and, with connecting narrow-gauge mountain lines, 
affords easy access to the finest pleasure grounds. York, 75 miles south, is the 
temporary terminus. The road follows the thickly settled Jordan valley nearly 
all the way to LTtah Lake, and then continues its southward course through the 
beautiful villages lying along the eastern shores of that lovely sheet. The giant 
peaks of the great Wasatch range lie close along the road on the east, so that 
the traveler has an .unending panorama of lake, valley and river on one hand, 
and of the snow-covered mountain summits and timbered foot-hills on the other. 
Although the line drains a wide scope of wonderfully productive country on 
either side, and has already worked up an immense carrying business, an early 
extension to the great mining and semi-tropical districts of southern Utah will 
increase the traffic incalculably. During 1877 there were, in round numbers, 
100,000,000 pounds of freight forwarded, and 150,00Q,000 pounds received by 
this road. Following are stations, distances and fares from Salt Lake City; 



100 TO TUL HOCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

Stations. Distance. lare. 

Little CotlonwooJ 7 ,| 50 

Junction 13 75 

Sandy I3 1 OO 

Diaper 17 1 25 

Lebi 31 1 75 

American Fork 34 i 90 

Pleasant Grove. . 37 2 00 

Prove 48 2 50 

Springville .. 03 2-75 

Spanish Fork .5X 3 00 

Payson ar, h .50 

Santaquin 71 4 00 

York 75 4 00 

Bin,ffham C'</no>i and 0<ui/p Floyd A'''//r«r«/— At Junction, 12 miles south of 
Salt Lake City, this narrow gnage line puts out from tlie Utah Southern for 
the Bingham Canon gold and silver mines, about 20 miles distant on the right. 
This is one of the most important of the narro v gna'ie feeders referred to, as it 
not only brings down more ores than are produced by :iny other camp in Utah, 
but also carries up great quantities of miscellaneous supplies for use in the 
mines. The road carried 127,208,fi72 pounds of freight in 1877, and as its oper- 
ating expenses are very light, must be first-class paying property. Bingham 
station, 16 miles from Junction, is the present terminus of the road, and the 
mining camp of the same name is strung along the cailon above for a distance 
of two miles. There are about 2,000 residents whose habitations are crowded 
closely along the creek, and who seem well satisfied with their possessions in 
the grand old bills overlooking. This is the oldest gold-mining camp in Utan, 
and the deep gulches are btill paying good wages to claim-owners. About half 
a million dollars in gold were taken out previous to 1877. Quartz mining is the 
great industry, however. Many mines are rich in both gold and silver. We 
explored the underground wonders of the famous " Telegraph " lode, and were 
astonished by its prodigious dimensions and splendid state of development. 
Immense timbers supported the weight of the mountain over our heads as wo 
walked through the thousands of feet of worked out " drifts." Here and there 
the glittering mineral vein was plainly revealed by the light of our candles, and 
nearly 150 workmen were hammering away at the coveted mass which, in 
1876-7, yielded over f 1,000,000. Tramways convey the ore from this and other 
mines down tlie steep mountains to tlie railway, where, by an ingenious con- 
trivance, it is instantaneously dumped into the cars there waiting. It is then 
shipped to the smelters in the valley, about 20 miles below. 

Comfortable narrow-gauge cars convey the passenger to within two miles of 
the most noted mines, and then he can enjoy a novel ride by mule power on the 
tramway which zig-zags up the mountains and along the gulches, to the very 
silver veins themselves. Fare from Junction to Bingham, $1. 

Wasatch and Jordan Valley Railroad. — Thirteen miles from Salt Lake City, 
on our southern trip, we found Sandy, where this narrow-gauge line branches 
off into the "Wasatch mountains on the left. This is the route to the famous 
Little Cottonwood mining district, 20 miles distant, where the Emma, Flag- 
staff, and other mines of world-wide reputation are located. As may be 
imagined, there is plenty of business for the well-appointed roUing-stock. 
About 70,000,000 pounds of freight, and 11,500 passengers were carried 



SAUNTEKIXGS I.V UTAH. 101 

during 1877. That readers may judge of the pajjt r::.ese little, cheaply operated 
lines off in the western mountains take in the world's progress, we append a 
statement of comparative receipts of the Wasatch and Jordan Valley road for 
the past four years, the capital stock being $500,000: 

For 1874 $38,000 

" 1875 54,000 

" 1876 1 16,000 

" 1877 ISO.'^OO 

Earnings for four years $358,000 

Trains on all these side lines run in such a manner that the tourist can leave 
Salt Lake City in the morning, go up iuto the mountains i'or from three to six 
hours, and returning, catch the afternoon train of the Utah Southern, reaching 
the city again in ample time for supper. This road follows up the Little Cot- 
tonwood valley about ten miles, and on into Ihe canon two miles farther. A 
prominent land -mark at the mouth of the canon, and one affording a glorious 
view of valley and lake below, is Humphrey's Peak, named in honor of Ezra 
Humphrey, Esq., the superintendent and guiding spirit of these narrow-gauge 
railroads. Here are also the great quarries which furnish granite for the 
construction of the Mormon temple. 

Two miles inside the picturesque gorge we were transferred to the odd 
means of locomotion already referred to as the tramway. The passenger cars 
are open, seat about eight persons each comfortably and look very much like 
the old-fashioned sleds of the East. The track is laid almost as substantially, 
and quite as carefully, as that of the steam railway. The engineer is employed 
with direct reference to patience, sobriety and mule -conf^^.tering powers, and must 
man the brakes as though the coming of the millennium depended upon 
the result. He is conductor, brakeman, engineer and fireman combined, 
and his knowledge of tramway details must lie such as few average minds 
can comprehend. All being ready, the whip whistled, the mules brayed, and 
we were off and ^iij). In seven miles we climbed 3,000 feet toward cloud-land. 
This was through the land of snow-slides, and the track was housed in by 
substantial snow-sheds nearly the entire distance. Of course the scenery, 
from our point of view, was not particularly lovely, inspiring, or even intin-- 
esting, but the inner architecture of our snow-shed was. You may travel 
round the world, reader, and study styles of architecture with religious devo- 
tion in every clime, then wind up yonr journeyings in this Utah snow-shed; 
and regretfully acknowledge that you might have here found all of them — 
yes, a good many more — under one narrow but tremendously long roof. Tim- 
bers of prodigious size, stretches of solid masonry on either side, and millions 
of feet of pine planks were component parts, and they were joined in every 
conceivable manner. Here our narrow path lay close against the masonry, 
and our massive roof sloped off abruptly toward the gulch like that of a shed, 
so- that the vast accumulations of snow coming down like lightning from the 
mountain-tops could slide over us; there our temporary sheltejf running up 
sharp like the letter A, and again the structure widening out to quite re- 
spectable dimensions. Occasionally we halted to view the devastating effects 
of the terrible snow-sUde which had swept down before the advent of this 
great snow-shed. The iron rails had been twisted and doubled as if they 



102 10 IHE RO( KIES AND BEYOND. 

had been the most flimsy wi^ ; trees were viprooted and rendered mere drift- 
wood in the bottom of the gorge, and monster boulders were intermingled 
in the general de&n's. Looking 2,000 feet above whence the mountain of snow 
had come, we could see the clean, narrow path — generallj' only about 100 feet 
wide — which had been left from summit to base as a memento and warning. 
Dozens of miners lose their lives every winter in the Little Cottonwood 
district, by the awful avalanche, but the secure housing of the tramway has 
lessened the danger to travel very materially. Of course openings occur 
here and there, where the lover of sunshine can step out and view the glories 
of canon scenery. At each of these one feels amply repaid for the moments 
of suspense and shadow inside. We should not forget to tell, however, that 
at some of these points the caQon is so deep and narrow that it is without 
sunshine for five months of the year. 

Among the Silvei' Mines. — Twelve miles up the canon we stepped out of 
our wooden tunnel and looked down upon Alta, the business center of the 
Little Cottonwood district. The town contains about 1,000 iuhabitauts; is 
right at the head of the canon, and is overlooked by mouutaius full of rich 
silver mines. We were on Emma hill, and about 100 yards distant was one 
of the entrances to the famous "Little Emma" mine, while within a few feet 
was the tramway down which the ore of the "Flagstaff" poured into the lit- 
tle square box cars. 

"The "Emma," which in its palmy days yielded a million dollars or more, 
is again being vigorously worked, and residents have great contiilencc in its 
soon becoming as lavishly productive as before. We notice that foreign 
mining corporations are nearly always unfortunate in selecting their mana- 
gers. The mines are C?ten first-class, but the management n )toriousiy tliird- 
rate in point of ability, or else absolutely knavish. Stockholders are thus 
constantly bled from one cause or the other, and our best mines aie called 
worthless by capitalists across the water. About the next thing we learn is 
that the property is sold at a sacrifice, bought up by experienced American 
miners, and straightway pours out its hidden wealth. The "Flagstaff" has 
produced enough to have enriched two score of men, but we were told has 
also been made to destroy much London confidence by its unfortunate man- 
agement. Other great producers here are the "Nabob," "Alta Consolidated," 
"North Star," and the "Kate Hayes." 

A still more novel affair for the transportation of ore than the tramway, 
is the "drag," which is used among the high ranges here quite generally. 
It is made of a fresh ox-hide, sewn together at the ends, an aperture being 
left in the middle for the reception of the ore, and looped up with ropes 
when the "vehicle" is loaded. An iron brake, with long, sharp teeth like 
those of a rake, is fastened to the tail, and the mule's traces are connected 
at the other end. Fifteen hundred pounds of ore can be hauled in one of 
these over the snow and ice-covered trails of the steepest mountains. We saw 
these contriY§nces coming down from the mines in every direction and depos- 
iting their loads at the tramway. If from the steepness of the trail the 
"drag" threatened to slide upon kicking heels, the engineer straightway 
jumped upon the bi'ake and sank its teeth into the snow. There are few 
camps which can be more easily visited than Alta. The mines are among the 
richest in the west^ are systematically worked, and present many interesting 



SAUXTERIXG3 IX UTAH. 103 

features for the eyes of the tourist. A comfortable mountain hotel is found 
here; rates, $2 per day. Fare from Sandy to Alta, $2. 

Mule power earned us slowly up; gravitation whirled us and the mules 
quickly down. The engineer, conductor, brakeman, etc., tied his mules at the 
rear end of the cai-, took his accustomed seat and unloosed the brake. If we 
thought his position responsible before, it was tenlbld more so now. The down 
grade was terrific — at places 600 feet to the mile — and some of the cui-ves were 
nearly as short as those of a serpent's trail. Heading straight for mountain 
walls one moment, we were beai-ing down upon the grotesque walls of human 
architecture the next. In the one case a sudden parting with the track would 
have resulted in sure annihilation to us; m the other, some Moorish, Gothic or 
Roman specimen of architecture would have received a shock which would have 
broken the heart of its designer. An ore train passed down about the same 
time. Two cars were always coupled together, and controlled by one man, who 
sat on the rear one. This seemed an easy solving of the transportation question, 
and it is indeed wonderful what an amount of ore pours quietly down over this 
little road in the course of the year. Over 50,000,000 pounds of ore were trans- 
ported in 1877. Going up requires three hours" time; going down only one — 
and the down trip to Sandy is over only too soon. 

Sandy is the Swansea of Utah. Here are the busy smelters, which feed on 
silver ores from the mountains and iron ore from the valley. Dozens of stacks 
point high toward the sky, filling the clear atmosphere with black, sulphur- 
scented clouds in the daytime, and breathing great blasts of red flame into the 
darkness at night. Hundreds of grimy men watch the furnaces, and have built 
up a thriving village by their industry. The different railways are always crowd- 
ing heaping cars of ore at the platforms, or are shipping away tons of the con- 
centrated bullion. There are about half a dozen of these smelters and sampUng 
works in this vicinity, and they have really only commenced to consume those 
mountains of ore which rise up so majestically fifteen miles away. Great ware- 
houses full of ores of every grade line the track of the Utah Southern. Splendid 
farms line the Little Cottonwood above and the modern Jordan below. Thus 
these widely different interests are stalking along side by side, each stimulating 
the other by its own needs. At different stages of our journey in L'tah we were 
struck by this admirable facility for exchange. The Mormon farmer at the base 
of the mountains fills his wagon with potatoes in the morning, is in the heart of 
a rich mining camp by noon, sells his load and returns to his fertile patch by 
night. This accessibility reduces operating expenses at the mines to the mini- 
mum, and yet enables the farmer to dispose of his produce at good living rates. 
It is said that expenses of living in the mining districts of Utah are lower, and 
the style of living better, than in any gold or silver mining region of America. 
The choicest fruits, the best vegetables, the finest products of the dairy, are 
found almost within sight of the mines. 

Utah Lake. — Seventeen miles south of Salt Lake City is Draper, a pleasant 
Uttle village in the eastern edge of Jordan Valley. The valley is here some 
ten miles wide, and thickly studded with orchards, grain fields and neat rural 
homes. A few miles farther on the road ascends to the upland separating Salt 
Lake Valley from that of Utah Lake. From different points as we whirled 
along the brink of this high bench land a scene of surpassing loveliness burst 
upon us. Utah Lake with all its indescribable beauty of overhanging mountain 



104 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

tops, rocky promontories and intervening slopes of fertile lowlands seemed to lie 
directly in our pathway. Where the shore- line is not too rugged on the north 
and east, Utah's richest farmlands run to the water's edge, and pretty villages 
lock arms at almost every step. The great southern landmark, Mount Nebo, 
rising 12,000 feet above the sea, terminates the view southward, and is a fitting 
sentinel over the enchanting panorama at its base. On the west side of the lake 
rises the "Lake Range," in which rich silver mines have been discovered. 
Utah Lake is thirty miles long and about six wide. It is fed by such clear 
mountain streams as Provo river, American Fork, Spanish Fork, Hobble, Peat- 
neet and Salt Creeks, its outlet being through Jordan River northward into Salt 
Lake. Utah Lake is about 500 feet higher than its great northern neighbor. 
We had now left the valley of Salt Lake behind, and had fairly entered that of 
Utah Lake. 

Lehl, 31 miles south of the city, is the next important point passed. It is 
the center of a fine agricultural settlement numbering 1,500 people. We noticed 
large, quantities of wool, hides and other rural productions awaiting ship- 
ment here. West of Lelii 12 miles is Cedar Fork, a village of 200 people. 
Large quantities of charcoal are produced there. Tri-weekly stages, carrying 
mails, run thither; fare, $2. 

American Fork, 34 miles, is a thriving farming community, with fine stretches 
of meadow fringing it and skirting the beautiful lake below. The population 
is about 1,600, and the people nearly all busy themselves with their fertile farms 
or fruit orchards. Dried and green fruits are shipped from here by the ton, 
and great quantities of hay are cured for the northern markets. We learned 
that American Fork was the first town in Utah to establish free schools. The 
American Fork railroad here branches off to the noted canon whose opening lies 
three or four miles east of the city. 

AMERICAN FORK CANON. 

If the tourist can visit but one point in Utah, let him by all means make that 
one object American Fork Canon. There is nothing like it accessible from the 
Union Pacific Railroad, or elsewhere that we know of. Leaving Salt Lake City 
early in the morning, by the Utah Southern, the visitor reaches American Fork 
Station by nine o'clock, and finds the little cars of the American Fork Railway, 
— which are soon to look like toys among the towering walls — ready to com- 
mence the mountain trip. The track follows the pretty stream directly toward 
the mountains for six or seven miles. Entering the Canon the wildest of aU wild 
scenes bursts upon the eye. The change from the broad valley to the narrow 
and wonderful gorge comes with such abruptness that there seems to be no 
middle ground. With further progress the awful height increases, and the 
fantastic grouping grows indescribably weird. One thousand, two thousand, 
three thousand feet! rise the pine-crowned battlements until the eye is fairly 
strained with searching out the glories of the summits. 

The coloring of the rock strikes the observer no less than their ever- 
changing forms. A very deep red and brown are the prevailing shades, 
but these are varied, brightened, intermingled, until we fancy a kaleidoscope 
of colors, as well as of figures. Here the red pales to a beautiful pink ; 
there the shadows deepen it to a royal purple, and tracings of the huge 



106 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

rock yonder are almost black. Heat, intense heat, has melted these grand 
old mountains, and awful convulsions have thrown and twisted the molten mass 
mto some of the mightiest walls and most wondrous formations known in all the 
Rockies. Lest we may be called too enthusiastic we give place for the outburst 
of a fellow- visitor: '"The cliffs on either side rise 3,000 feet above the torrent 
which roars down beside the railway. Such cliffs ! Such rock formations ! The 
strain of the rocks twisted, gnarled, distorted into every conceivable shape. 
Here is a mass seeming like the fibre of some colossal tree which lightning 
had taken hold of and wrenched and burned to a ghastly cinder ; there a huge 
overhanging mass, weighing millions of tons, composed apparently of segre- 
gated fragments, all threatening to fall and ruin. High up in the air crests and 
ridges of limestone and granite assume the strangest forms. Towers, battle- 
ments, shattered castles and the images of mighty sentinels exhibit their out- 
lines against the sky. Where the rocks do not deceive the eye with phantasies 
they are stained with rich, stern colors, like those which adorn the cliffs which 
rise above the profound abysses of the great Colorado ravine. Eyries of eagles 
are pointed out by the conductor, and there up high above the loftiest crag 
soars an eagle, scanning with contemplative eyes the little railway train strug- 
gling up the Canon 5,000 feet below his flight. Some eight miles from the mouth 
of the Canon, and 3,000 feet above its bed, there is an arch through the rock at 
the summit, on the north side, through which the blue sky is seen. This arch, 
called the Devil's Eye, seems about as big as a man's head. It is fifty feet high 
and eighteen feet wide. Over it stands a tree, which appears like a stunted 
bush ; it is seventy-five feet high, and its topmost branches are favorite perches 
of eagles." 

Half way up the Canon the baby train passes under Hanging Rock. It is 
literally a mountain of rock projecting out toward the stream twenty feet be- 
yond the perpendicular. Looking upward out of the window, opposite the rock, 
we could see its edge covering more than the width of the track, its millions of 
tons of weight threatening to grind such frail work of man to powder. Under 
an immense mass of granite, to the right, was a cave that looked as if it might 
have been carved by the chisel of some Titan of past ages. Opposite was a 
colossal amphitheatre with waUs on three sides, 2,000 feet high, its arena crowd- 
ed with nature's gladiators, bold crags and flinty points, and its heaven -piercing 
summits richly clad with the evergreen pine and spruce. A feature wel- 
comed here is the luxuriant vegetation, which in other canons is so often totally 
lacking. Jagged walls and other formations which need toning down, are often 
clad with richest verdure. Here and there, under the shelter of overhanging 
rocks, were the camps of enthusiastic visitors. Often we leaped the beautiful 
torrent by a spanning bridge; then soon again found the crystal waters washing 
our solid parapet. The track was crooked, as are most railways in the moun- 
tains, and just when we least expected it, some vista of entrancing beauty and 
splendor would suddenly burst upon us. Among the figures resembling the 
animate was one looking hke a gigantic lion, not "ready for the leap,'' but 
reposing gracefully on his royal pedestal five hundred feet above, like the king 
of beasts alone can. Bi^autiful springs send their clear w .iters over the rocks 
and under the ferns and cresses to the creek at different points. Deep, dark ed- 
dies which we know are- full of trout, noisy cascades over shelves of rock, and 
often masses of richest foliage shading the more quiet depths, are features of 



SAUNTERINGS IN UTAH. 107 

"American Fork," which will come back to us for years with the most delicioua 
zest. 

Neai-ing the head of the Canon we passed the " Old Mill. ' ' The wilds in this 
case only needed such a musty and decayed old monument to set off their glori- 
ous charms. We passed at the base of a high dome of rock with the tottering, 
uioss-covered frame of the old saw-mill on our left. A mass of verdure and 
network of undergrowth creeps over the foundation, graceful trees crowd around, 
and the stream hero mingles its sweetest ripple with the sighing of the pines 
among the rocks above. The loveliness of this scene defies, yes shames, de- 
scription, and we doubt if another in all the west appeals more strongly to 
the admiration of the lover of nature. 

The mountains now lessened in size and grew less rugged. Soon we 
reached Deer Creek, 16 miles from American Fork station, and the terminus 
of this grand piece of railway engineering which enabled us to pass up 
through the magnificent panorama in two hours. We had ascended 5,000 
feet in sixteen miles, or at the rate of over 300 feet to the mile. At Deer Cree k 
a sawmill was turning out 8,000 feet of lumber per day, and ten charco al 
kilns were producing 3,000 bushels of fuel per day for the smelters below. 
The mountains above are full of silver mines. One of these, the "Miller,'' 
was at first so wonderfully rich that the American Fork Railway was built at 
an expense of $400,000, purely to carry out the stream of rich ore, and to 
assist in the development of other mining enterprises. The vein is not worked 
so vigorously as in earlier years, and the builders of the road perhaps little 
thought of the thousands of eager pleasure seekers who were to soon pronounce 
its pathway one of the finest in the world. But other mines are being worked 
near Deer Creek, and the interest is growing in importance so rapidly that the 
product of these will soon *,-ive the road all the tonnage its projectors had hoped 
for. Tli8 " Wild Dutchman," " Silver Lake, " " Pittsburgh "' and "Bullion" 
are the prominent mines developed. 

The descent of the Canon is even more sublime than the upward txip. Our 
locomotive was left behind, and we finished one of the grandest rides of our 
lives simTply by the ppwer of gravitation. Going up, the pant and effort of the 
powerful little locomotive, the hiss of steam, and rattle of wheels, alone attracted 
our attention from the ever beautiful surroundings. Coming down even this 
feature was missed. Gliding quickly downward, we made our way so noiselessly 
that even the birds could know the difference, and greet us with greater free- 
dom. Round the curves, over the rushing waters, and amid all those indescrib- 
able byways, we silently descended. Passing in review that multitude of attrac- 
tions, which had been so admired from below, we conf'ssed that all was again 
new, and that the only way to thoroughly appreciate canon scenery was to watch 
with all eyes wJiile going down. We caught our best views of Mount Aspinwall — 
a splendid landmark to the south — on our downward course. And we spied out 
hundreds of fascinating camp-grounds, inviting little groves, and glorious points 
of view for those who like to climb, on that exciting plunge to the valley. 
Mountains all looked higher, the Canon deeper, and the grade far more precipi- 
tous, than when gazed at from below No less a personage than the late Canon 
Kingsley, of England, pronounces this locality "the rival of the Yo Semite," 
and another great traveler, in speaking of the downward trip through the Cafion, 
says: "It is the grandest of all railway scenes the tourist will ever witness," 



108 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

Arriving at American Fork station in time for the north-bound tram of the 
Utah Southern, visitors reach Salt Lake City in time for supper. Excursion 
tickets are sold from Salt Lake City to Deer Creek and return at $3.50. A com- 
fortable hotel is found at American Fork Station; rates, |2 per day. 

Now again southward over the Utah Southern. Still keeping the silvery 
sheen of the great fresh water lake in full view on our right, and the rocky 
heights of the Wasatch overlooking on the left, we soon passed Pleasant 
Grove. It is another of the many pretty rural pictures found everywhere in 
Utah, and the small collection of homes is almost buried in the foliage of 
box-elder, locust and cottonwood. A fight which settlers had here at an early 
day with Ute Indians had given the place the name of Battle Creek, but that 
title has long since been abandoned. 

Great Irrigating Enterprises. — Proceeding southward again from American 
Fork station, we crossed a ten mile stretch of comparatively unsettled valley 
lands. These, and thousands of acres more of lands as rich as any in Utah, 
are soon to be utilized, as great irrigating canals are being led from the head 
of the Jordan (its point of exit from Utah Lake) out over the high bench 
lands and along the Wasatch mountains, for a distance of 25 miles toward 
Salt Lake City. A canal 25 feet wide and 30 inches deep is being taken out 
on each side of the river, covering some 50,000 acres of hitherto worthless 
lands and rendering them abundantly productive. 

Proro. — 48 miles south of Salt Lake City is Provo, the commercial and man- 
ufacturing center of Utah Valley. It has a population of 4,000, and is beauti- 
fully located on the south side of Provo river near the base of the mountains. 
The woolen mills here are the most extensive between the Missouri River and 
the Pacific coast. There are four large buildings belonging to one corporation 
which, with the machinery, cost $250,000. 3,240 spindles and 125 looms in 
this institution consume 2,000 pounds of wool per day, and in 1877, the net 
profit was $50,000. Yams and woolen goods of superior quality from these 
mills go to all parts of Utah, and are worn by the Mormon fanner and Gentile 
miner alike. There are also three extensive flouring mills, sawmills, and other 
manufa^'tories here, all utilizing the splendid water power afforded by the river. 
" Brigham College," founded and endowed by Brigham Young, is one of the 
most noticeable public institutions. Hotels are small here, but afford very 
good accommodations at from $2 to $2.50 per day. 

Provo Cauon. — One of the finest drives in all Utah is that of Provo Cafion. 
Provo river has a most singular exit from the towering Wasatch range, six 
miles east of the city, and its course above is little less attractive. . From the 
splendid carriage road, which curves gracefully under the canon walls far 
above the stream at the entrance, the rocks on either side look as if they mig t 
have once been giant buttresses of solid masonry, formed by human hands, 
and offering no possible outlet for even the tiniest rivulet. It is not hard to 
fancy that the mountain torrent which now so grandly fills the gash, here gath- 
ered all its strength and with one wild sweep burst through, carrying fertility 
and beauty to thirsty lands below. Passing upward, the road Is always in 
sight of the stream — sometimes cut in the mountain side and often following at 
the water's edge. Alternating with the deep and narrow defiles are numerous 
little park-like openings, which seem especially designed for the noonday lunch, 
or the more p"rmanent camp ground. As the cafion walls sometimes nse per- 



SAUNTEKINGS IN UTAH. 109 

pendicularly 1,500 feet, there is wildness and beauty combined and richly lavished 
within the smallest bounds. Eight miles up the Canon is a series of half a doz- 
en exquisite falls. These drop from twenty to twenty-five feet each from ledges of 
rock into basins they have long since worn smooth and wide. The lower one, the 
"Bridal Veil, " is alone an entrancing sheet, the entire volume of the river descend- 
ing in abroad, regular body and covering the dark granite below with flakes of 
foam. We are told of aside cascade of 1,800 feet, which must be a rare attrac- 
tion. Trout are very plentiful. Heber city, 20 miles from Provo, is reached 
through this caiion. It is the centre of a large and flourishing agricultural 
community in the upper Provo valley. 

Tliree miles from Heber city are found a group of hot wells which form a great 
natural curiosity. There are about fifty of these wells runningfrom five to fifty feet 
in diameter. The waters, as they have been forced out at the top, have formed 
wonderful rims of limestone from 20 to 100 feet in height. In some of these, 
water of beautifully varied tints can be seen rising and falling as though pro- 
pelled by a mighty foice from below. Sticks thrown into the water are speedily 
encrusted with the lime and other substances held in solution. Several of the 
wells are dry and so great is the deposit of lime in one of these that a kiln, 
fifty feet in diameter, is utilizing the product. The country surrounding 
abounds in fish and game, and is well worthy the visits of tourists. Good ac- 
commodations are found in several villages, and almost everywhere among the 
thrifty farmers. 

SprhigviUe. — 53 miles from the city, is a village of 1,500 inhabitants, and 
named from the immense warm springs which flow from the caofin near by. 
An enterprising miller utilizes the water from these springs to run his flouring 
mill, and when his neighbors' wheels are locked by hard freezing he pushes 
right along. Just back of the town is the pretty Hobble Creek Canon, which 
gets its homely name from the earliest Mormon explorers who camped one 
night, some thirty years ago, between its romantic walls, and found a pair of 
old Spanish hobbles. A fine vein of coakiug coal is found in Pleasant Valley, 40 
miles distant through this canon. Large quantities of coke are hauled to the 
railroad here and are shipped to the smelters, near Salt Lake. A railroad is pro- 
jected to the mines, and seems to have a pretty even chance of reaching them 
within a year or two. Springdale is one of a perfect belt of villages which he 
beautifully at the base of the mountains, and along the eastern shore of Utah 
Lake. The country is rich in grain and fruit farms, and the mhabitants are to 
be envied their cosy homes amid such lovely scenes. 

Huntiii'j cfnd Fishing. — All along this shore line are points of rendezvous for 
disciples of the gun and rod; but Spanish Fork, a town of 2,000 inhabitants — 
situated on our Line, 50 miles south of Salt Lake City — seems to be preferred by 
the sportsmen. Spanish Fork River empties into the lake near here. Duck 
hunting among the reeds and along the banks of the lake two miles distant is 
simply unexcelled, and trout-fishing in both lake and river is superb. The lake 
is full of five-pound trout — ten-pound trout are not strangers in its translucent 
depths — and the river swarms with the smaller though none the less gamy 
kind. Suckers and other fish are also very plentiful. Spanish Fork hotels en- 
tertain very acceptably at about two dollars per day. 

A large dairy for the manufacture of butter and cheese is located near Span- 
ish Fork. It has been in operation two years, on the co-operative plan, and 



110 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

proves a thorough success. The pure atmosphere, cool nights, and splendid 
springs of ice-cold water are auxiliaries found everywhere along the Utah moun- 
tains, and render the manufacture of such articles an easy task. Readers may 
wonder what we mean when we say that within the confines of the town 100,- 
000 bushels of wheat were raised in 1877. These are towns of stone-walls and 
cornfields, of orchards and potato patches, of mingled cow pastures and business 
blocks — at least that is what a Yankee with an eye to rural industry would call 
them. In passing round the corner from your hotel to a drj' goods store you can 
at different points save time and distance by cutting cross-lots through a corral 
or two; and then, if you have an unconquerable desire for such "plunder" as 
squashes, melons, tomatoes, or the different varieties of fruits, a well-filled truck 
patch awaits you across the way. This variegated manner of arranging things 
continues from the Mormon Tabernacle, in Salt Lake City, to the furthermost 
corners of populated Utah. On the table lands above Spanish Fork grapes are 
produced by the ton, and the manufacture of wine is carried on to considerable 
extent. 

Pai/son, 66 miles, is a town of 2,000 inhabitants, located near the south end of 
Utah Lake. It is also a strictly agricultural community. Three miles farther 
south and a little to the left of the road is a prettTj" and enterprising little place, 
called Spring Lake Villa. It is cosily nestled imder the very shadow of the 
mountains, by the side of the small lake which gives it name. The villa is 
noted for its fine fruits, large quantities of choice apples, peaches, pears, grapes 
and other small fruits being produced. Quite an extensive fruit-canning estab- 
lishment is located here. 

The Tiiific Mines. — Santaquin, 71 miles, is the principal forwarding point 
for the Tintic gold and silver mining district. Here, as weU as at numerous 
other stations, we noticed the large warehouses of the Utah Forwardmg Com- 
pany, a corporation which has its chief office at Salt Lake City, and does an im- 
mense carrying business, reaching out to the furthermost settlements and mining 
camps of Utah. The Tintic mining district is located m tne Oquinii mountains, 
about 15 miles west of Santaquin, and covers an area of 150 square miles. It is 
a literal store-house of mineral wealth from center to circumference. Average 
assays of ores from thirty leading silver mines made during December, 1877, 
exhibited a value of $75 per ton, and many specimens of gold and silver ran as 
high as $2,000 and $3,000 in value per ton. Six mills and smelters are in oper- 
ation in the Tinfic district. Thirty-five stamps are pounding the silver and gold 
from "free-milling" ores, while millions of pounds more of the material which 
must be smelted are annually shipped to the northern smelting works. Vast 
deposits of hematite iron ores are found near the mines of precious metals, and 
at present are largely utilized for " fluxing" with silver ores at the smelters. 
Over 20,000,000 pounds of this were shipped to the Sandy smelters over the 
Utah Southern, in 1877. Copper ore of good grade is also found near the 
same district, Tri-weekly stages run to the different mining camps. Fares 
and distances from Santaquin are as follows : to Goshen. 6 miles, $1; Diamond 
City, 13 miles, $2.50; Silver City, 16 miles, $2.50; Eureka, 21 miles, $3.50. 



SAUNTEKINGS IX UTAH. Ill 



SOUTHERN UTAH AND NEVADA. 

York. — Seventy-five miles south of Salt Lake City is the temporai-y terminus 
of the Utah Southern, and therefore the great transfer and forwarding point for 
the southern Utah, Nevada and northern Arizona trade. Large trains of 
covered wagons were seen approachmg and departing, and the real old Concord 
coach again appeared in its most useful sphere. Over 10,000,000 pounds of 
freight were sent northward from here during 1876. and the showing of south- 
bound freights was equally gratifying. It is plain to see that the railway here 
already grasps at the wealth and plenty of the great southwest. It is just 
at the threshold of a sunny empire, and needs but cross to reap the full reward. 

The people of Utah seem to take most pride in the semi-tropical southern 
half of their territory, and firmly believe that all the vast trade of that region 
and of the best silver and gold regions of Nevada and Arizona will flow north- 
ward over their railroads to the Mormon capital; or, carrying it a little farther, 
that all the southern border there will certainly be made tributary to the north 
and east by the extension of the Utah Southern Railway, rather than to the 
western and southwestern coast. With due deference to Pacific coast enter- 
prise, we all realize that Eastern commercial centers supply the continent. The 
bulk of merchandise, mining supplies, etc., for the rich mines of southern Ne- 
vada formerly went past Salt Lake City westward 300 miles ; then south and 
southeast by indirect roads all the way from 350 to 400 miles more. Since the 
opening of this direct route to the northeast, however, by which some 200 miles 
in distance are saved, travel and trade have, to a large extent, been turned to 
the natural channel. A glance at any map of the continent also enables us to 
see that with the extension of the Utah Southern the same rule will apply to the 
great Arizona region. Instead of going westward from Ogden 900 miles to the 
Pacific coast, and then southeastward 800 miles more to the Arizona settlements, 
by lines now established, the travel or freight traffic will turn directly south- 
ward via the Utah Central and Utah Southern Branch of the Union Pacific, and 
reach the same points in a thousand miles less of distance. Indicating the direct- 
ness and other natural advantages of this route is the fact that the government 
has already established mail service from St. George, in southern Utah, south- 
ward along the Colorado river, to Hardyville, Camp Mohave, Ehrenburg and 
Yuma, m Arizona. 

Large quantities of cotton are already produced under the warm skies of 
southern Utah, and manufactured into the coarser fabrics by the same unskilled 
hands which tiU the fields. Tobacco, rice, almonds, pomegranates, figs, grapes, 
madder and indigo, with most cereals and vegetables, are among other leading 
productions in this favored clime. The valleys are not very extensive, as a 
rule, but are numerous and exceedingly fertile. Stock raising has become an 
important branch of industry. Washington and Kane counties are small 
kingdoms in themselves, taking up nearly all the territory known as " Southern 
Utah." They contain about fifty towns and settlements, which are noted for 
their fine fruits and manufactures of woolen and cotton yarns and fabrics, 
leather, boots and shoes, syrups, wines, raisins, castor and other oils and medi- 
cines. About every shade of temperature and climate are represented in the 
different localities, from 114° in the shade to icicles in midsummer. Hunting is 
excellent everywhere in the mountains, and trout streams abound in ail sec- 



112 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

tions. Seme of the sKtiller valleys are perfect little gems of loveliness and fer- 
tility. Among the ncchs particularly rich :n natural attractioLS is Little Zioa 
Valley, which lies near the north fork of the Rio Virgin river, and a few miles 
east of the St. George Stage Line. The admirable view on another page is only 
one of the hundreds equally beautiful to be obtained m that romantic locality. 
Rockville and Zion are the nearest villages of note, and can easily be reached 
from Bellevue and other points on the stage road. 

Mining along this southwestern route is an industry which must assume great 
proportions in the very near future. Silver ores are found in the mountains on the 
right at almost every stop. Prominent among mineral regions now partially de- 
veloped are those tributary to Beaver, 150 miles southwest of York. The " San 
Francisco Silver District" is one of these. Some of the mines in this district 
are veritable bonanzas^, and have already paid for the erection of mills and 
smelters The "Horn Silver" is the name of one of these immense deposits. 
Its vein has been thoroughly prospected for a distance of 300 feet, revealing a 
soiid ore body 50 feet wide and thus far known to be 200 feet deep. Eight 
thousand tons of ore have already been taken out and worked, revealing 
HO sign of exhausting the supply. The mineral yields from 40 to 70 ounces of 
silver to the ton. Running through this immense vein are streaks of "horn 
silver," worth from .^1,000 to $2,000 per ton. The " Elephant," which yielded 
$30,000 in six weeks, the " Hidden Treasure," "Rebel" and " Uranus, " are 
other noted mines. Such sub-districts as the Picacho, Rocky, Star, Pine Grove 
and Granite, all within easy reach of this route, are full of miners and prospect- 
ors, and are shipping hundreds of tons of ore every month to the north and east. 
The number of mineral locations run up into the thousands. Silver ores from 
many large mines average 50 ounces of silver per ton, and 45 per cent lead, while 
many in addition yield from $5 to $20 in gold per ton. In the San Francisco 
District large smelting and reduction works have been completed, and others 
are being built. On the strength of these great mines two towns — Frisco and 
Grampian — were being rapidly built late in 1877. 

The mines continue to occur at short intervals southward into Arizona, and 
westward into the great silver belts of Kevada. Leeds and St. George, in 
Southern Utah, are the prominent centers for that region. The Leeds or Silver 
Reef mines have recently become widely famous for their richness and extent. 
Not only do gold and silver abound in these districts, but copper, iron, coal and 
lead exist in immense deposits at various points. The silver ores are often 
easily reduced by stamp-mills. The mills in Leeds district pounded out a 
product of 400,000 ounces of silver in 1877. Miners are everywhere praying for 
the extension of the railway, and even the most conservative ones are so extrav- 
agant as to declare that the mining industry will alone pay a railroad's 
running expenses. It will be many years before sufficient smelting and re- 
duction works are constructed at the mines to consume the ore produced, and 
the richest ores will for a long time be transported north to Salt Lake City or 
to Omaha. The tonnage of ores now forwarded is no criterion of what it would 
be should the railroad extend to within 50, or even 100, miles of the best mines, 
because the wagon transportation is so expensive now that only the very 
richest ores can be shipped with profit. Following is a statement of distances 
on Gilmer, Salisbury & Go's daily stage line south from York, together with 



SAUNTERINGS IN UTAH. 113 

passenger and express freight tariff. Mule freight to Beaver is about one 
cent per pound, to St. George about two cents : 

Miles. Fare. Freight. 
From York to 

Nephi 16 $2 00 2 cents. 

Chicken Creek 30 3 75 2% " 

Round Valley 55 7 00 3 

Fillmore 80 10 00 4 

Corn Creek 92 12 50 5 

Cove Creek 123 15 00 6 

Beaver 152 18 00 7 

Buckhom 174 23 50 8 

Parowan 189 25 75 9 

Summit 195 26 50 9 

Cedar City 209 28 00 10 

Harmony 231 31 50 12 

Desert Springs 279 38 25 13 

Pioche, Nevada 321 40 00 15 

Via Harmony to Bellevue 245 33 50 12i^ *' 

Leeds or Silver Reef 258 35 00 123^ " 

St. George 276 37 50 14 

The Utah Western Railwaij.— Returning to Salt Lake City, we made a trip 
out to the shores of Great Salt Lake, 20 miles, and on to Stockton, 37 miles from 
the city. As its name would indicate, this narrow-gauge line has a general 
western course from the city, and is calculated to develop the rich mining regions 
and agricultural valleys in that direction. It skirts the extreme southern shore 
of the lake, and then turns a little to the south, along the western base of the 
Oquirrh mountains. As it is the regular line for all pleasure travel to the lake, 
and extends to within a few miles of the best mines of Stockton, Ophir and Rush 
mountain districts, it takes a very important part in the carrying business of 
Utah. 

Crossing the Jordan near the outskirts of the city, the road enters a stretch of 
uncultivated prairie 12 miles wide by about 50 long. Herds of cattle and sheep 
alone utilize these rich bottom lands, as something has prevented such a lavish 
use of water for irrigation as we saw almost everywhere else in the territory. 
We were informed that canals could easily be led from Utah Lake, or the Jor- 
dan, over all this broad area, and no doubt such enterprises will soon be under 
way. This plain or flat, sometimes thickly covered with sage brush, is the 
"jack" rabbit's paradise. About every sage bush claims its rabbit, ox vice 
versa. 

Millstone Point, 12 miles from the city, is the first station. Here the enter- 
prising millers who first ground Utah wheat quarried their mill-stones. A few 
miles distant are some large hot-springs of clear water. Three miles west of 
the station, near the track, is a cave, whose romantic precincts are made to an- 
swer for a corral and shelter for a large herd of sheep. Having rounded the 
northern extremity of the Oquirrh range, the great Dead Sea, with its grand 
shore-line of rugged mountains and its beautiful islands, came into full view 
on the right. Passing Black Rock station, named from a dark-colored rock ris- 
ing high out of the lake, about 100 yards from the shore, we soon arrived at 

Lake Point, 20 miles from the city, which is the resort for the thousands of 
pleasure-seekers who flock to the lake every season. Here is the " Short Branch 
Hotel," which has every convenience for the accommodation of visitors, and 



114 f TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

from whose wide balconies we obtained a glorious view of the lake, its surround- 
ing mountains and its rocky islands. We should also mention that there is a 
hotel at Black Rock. It is but a few yards down to the gravelly beach, where 
are bathing-houses, a wharf and the boats. The steamer "General Garfield"' 
is always ready here to take pleasure parties on a delightful cruise out over the 
clear waters and among the beautiful islands. The steamer, at times, has other 
occupation, too, for the islands and the west shore are rich in minerals, and large 
quantities of ore are transported from them to this point. Pleasure travel to 
the lake is rapidly increasing, both on account of the fine scenery thereabout 
and by reason of the unrivaled salt-water bathing afforded. Tliousands avail 
themselves of the low excursion rates of the Utah Western, and enjoy a novelty 
which the whole world outside does not afford — a delightful plunge into salt 
water midway between oceans, and at the same time breathing the finest moun- 
tain atmosphere in all the land. In these waters you cannot sink, and the tonic 
and invigorating properties have been demonstrated to be far superior to those 
of the lighter fluids of the ocean. Giant's Cave, from which we obtained exqui- 
site specimens of stalactites, is a noteworthy attraction near by. 

The Great Salt Lake stretches oft' northward 80 miles, is about 50 miles 
wide, and lies 4,200 feet above the ocean. The Oquirrh mountains rise high 
above the hotel just in the rear; the west mountain range borders the lake on 
the west, and far along the northeast shore runs the grand Wasatch range, 
Promontoiy mountains jut far out into the lake from the north, the whole form- 
ing a shore-line of singular beauty and magnificence. Antelope, Stansbury,. 
Hat, Gunnison, Kimball's, Carrington and Church are the principal islands. 
The mountains in some of these appear to belong to the same ranges which 
form the shore line and nearly all contain deposits of either the precious or base 
metals. On Carrington and Church Islands, in the southern part of the lake, 
are immense beds of slate and rich copper deposits. Numerous herds of wild 
horses, different kinds of game and many domestic animals are also grazing in 
these romantic localities. The waters of the lake have risen a dozen feet since 
the earliest settlement of Utah. 

The wonderful density of the Salt Lake waters has long since attracted the 
attention of Yankee enterprise. Large crystallizations of pure salt are often 
gathered on the shores of the mainland and islands, and in these later years it 
is found that four barrels of water evaporated produce one barrel of coarse salt. 
The utilization of this vast salt mine being such an easy matter, several firms are 
busily engaged in the work. The old way has been to dam off the waters of a 
shallow inlet from those of the lake; these, averaging four feet in depth, would 
be entirely evaporated in three months, leaving a crust of salt on the beach of 
from one to three, and at rare intervals, six inches in thickness. The finest salt 
would always be found in the deepest portion of the inlet where the water re- 
mained the longest. The product was gathered up and marketed without fur- 
ther manipulation. However, the leading firm, Messrs. Lawrence & Burgess, have 
now erected immense vats close to the lake, but eight feet above it. The water, 
after being pumped into these, is controlled to better advantage than in the old 
way, and the salt saved is white as snow — said to be as fine as the best Syracuse 
dairy salt — and is becoming a leading article of consumption all over the West. 
This firm manufactured 6,000 tons of the different grades of salt in 1877, and 
other firms 4,000 tons more. Of these 10,000 tons, much was left in its coarse^ 



Ii6 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOXD. 

native state, and shipped to the smelting works of Nevada, Colorado and Mon- 
tana. Colorado alone consumes 5,000 tons annually, and this will undoubtedly 
be supplied from the inexhaustible beds of the great lake, now that the Colorado 
Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railway affords such direct access to the 
consumers there. This Salt Lake product is especially sought by smelting com- 
panies, for the unusually large percentage of chlorides it contains — only 3 per 
cent of moisture and impurities are held in solution. Salt here sells for about 
$6 per ton on the cars, and can be placed upon the railroad for less than can the 
same quality be manufactured at any other point in the Union. With a now 
very large and constantly growing consumption, and these unequaled facilities 
for production, we may soon expect to see many factories crowding the lake- 
shore, and an industry worked up, which will add immensely to the territory's 
wealth. 

Skirting the southern shore of the lake, the Utah Western passes " Half- 
Way House," 25 miles from the city, Tooele, 31 miles, and makes its present 
terminus two miles from Stockton, at the southern rim of Salt Lake Valley, or 
37 miles from the city. After leaving Lake Point, the traveler notices many 
fine farms on the left, and near the " Half- Way House" are busy flouring and 
■woolen mills whose wheels are turned by the waters of large springs, which 
gush out near the station. Ten miles to the west is Grantville, one of the most 
thriving agricultural towns in Utah. 

Stockton and the Mines. — Stockton is pleasantly situated in the northern end 
of Rush Valley, adjacent to the great mines in the Oquin-h range, and is a 
prominent center for the reduction of ores of the district surrounding. The first 
discoveries of sUver in Utah were made near here. Three smelters — one of 
them the pioneer of the territory — are here busily at work, and the visitor can 
always see huge piles of bullion at their store-houses, or at the depot, awaiting 
shipment. There is a population here of 600. Stockton Lake, a pretty little 
gem in the mountains, near by, has a singular history. Local historians in- 
formed us that thirteen years ago the lands it now covers were broad, waving 
meadows, but through some strange freak of nature the crystal waters came, 
and the inhabitants woke up one morning to find a lake four miles long and a 
mile wide nestled down in the center of their fertile valley. 

The mines are not located in the highest mountains here, but in a range of 
low hills which skirt the town on the east. The "Argent," "Great Basin," 
" Silver King No. 2 " and the " Quandery," were the principal producers of sil- 
ver ores in 1877. The " Silver King No. 2 " shipped 2,500 tons of ore, which 
assayed |10 per ton. The ores from many of these mines are concentrated into 
what is known as "base bullion," at the local smelters, and then the silver 
and lead product is shipped to Omaha or elsewhere for separation and refine- 
ment. About twenty mines were raising ore during our visit, and the smelters 
have more than they can do to use up this product. The "Waterman" and 
" Chicago " are the principal smelters. Their product for eight months of 1877 
was, in round numbers, 210,000 ounces of silver, 530 ounces of gold and 6,000,- 
000 pounds of lead. The Stockton mines excel almost all others in Utah for 
their accessibility, and freedom from storms in winter. The altitude is less 
than that of any Utah mining district with which we are acquainted, and snow 
seldom falls to a depth of six inches. Good wagon roads lead from the terminus 
of the Utah Western Railway to all the mines. Over these the visitor can see 



NORTHERX UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 117 

ores transported every month in the year. The hills are so agreeably rounded 
and well covered with grasses, that herds of cattle, sheep and horses can be seen 
grazing in the midst of the mines — a sight not often aflForded in mining regions. 
Ores can be transported from the different veins to Salt Lake City at a total cost 
of $4 per ton. 

Southward from 10 to 20 miles are the Ophir, Dry Canon and Camp Floyd 
mining districts, possessing many rich properties, and being directly tributary 
to the Utah Western via Stockton. From Stockton there is a daily stage line 
to Ophir City, Jacob City, Rush Lake, and other localities worthy a visit. Fares 
from Salt Lake City, on the Utah Western, are, to Lake Point, 20 miles, $1.25 ; 
Half- Way House, 25 miles, $1.50 ; Tooele, 29 miles, $2 ; Terminus, 37 miles, 
$2.25. Excursion tickets are sold from the city to Lake Point and return, at 
$1.25, and special excursions are formed weekly, in summer, with the fare 
reduced to from 50 cents to $1. 



CHAPTER VI. 
NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 

The Utah d- 'Northern Branch of the Union Pacific Railway. — The longest 
and most important narrow-gauge line west of the Rockies, is the Utah & 
Northern Branch of the Union Pacific. It turns northward from the great 
overland line at Ogden, follows along the western base of the Wasatch range, 
through the richest counties of Northern Utah, and has for its temporary haltmg 
place Eagle Rock, Idaho, 20(J miles from Ogden. This line was not only in- 
tended to complete Utah's admirable raiL-oad system, but also to reach far to the 
north, penetrate the mining regions and settlements of Montana, to thoroughly 
drain the mountain locked Territory of Idaho and find a way to the Pacific Ocean 
over those empires of the great Northwest, Oregon and Washington. The 
enterprising people of Northern Utah undertook the enterprise in 1871, and 
struggled bravely along with it for four or five years, when the Union Pacific 
Railway Company consolidated it with the interests of that great road. With 
such men as Mr. Gould at the helm, the scheme could not lag, and we now find 
it going forward with a vigor unknown before. The headquarters of the Utah 
& Northern are at present at Logan, and George W. Thatcher, Ksq., is General 
Superintendent. 

As the road leaves the inviting suburbs of Ogden, it crosses Ogden River, 
which is here Imed with beautiful groves and alternating meadows. The same 
great Wasatch range which we so pleasantly followed to the southward here 
rises closely on the east, and Salt Lake affords some of the finest views on the 
west. Six miles from Oglen, close up under the shadow of the mountains, is 
the thriving village of North Ogden. A few miles farther on the road enters a 
little belt of land, three miles wide and five long, which is called the " Garden- 
spot of Utah." The lands slope gently from the base of the wonderfully rugged 
mountains to the lake shore, the yellow wheat fields meeting the green meadows 
half way, and the fruit orchards often shading the railway track. The cnoicest 



118 



TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 



apples, peaches, pears, apricots, and all small fruits, are produced here with 
great regularity, year after year. Forty to sixty bushels of wheat per acre is a 
common crop here, and the farmer with his little field of ten acres points to better 
results than he who cultivates twenty in the best Middle States. Splendid stone 
fences mark farm boundaries almost everywhei-e, and with the excellent farm 
buildings, well -cultivated fields and thrifty orchards, present an appearance at 
once of stability, wealth and plenty. Improved lands in this little belt and 
adjoining on either side are held at $100 and upward per acre. 




UTAH HOT SPRINGS, NEAR OGDEN. 

The Utah Hot Springs. — Eight miles from Ogden, clustered at the base of a 
rugged spur of the Wasatch range, are some mineral springs of great volume, 
and reputed to possess rare medicinal virtues. The water pours from crevices in 
the rocks, registering a temperature of 125°, and containing such ingredients as 
chloride of sodium, iron, magnesia, and nitre in strong solution. Baths here 
prove remarkably invigorating, and seem especially adapted to the cure of 
rheumatism and kindred chronic troubles. As is seen by an accompanying 
illustration,, a large pool has been neatly walled up. These walls and the peb- 
bly aisles surrounding, through which other springs send their waters to the 
great salt sea a few hundred rods below, are coated with a pretty, reddish min- 
eralized substance. A. capacious pipe leads a large quantity of the water 800 
feet farther, down the valley, passing under the Utah & Northern track on its 
way, and finally pouring the medicated fluid into the commodious and well ar- 
ranged bath-house. The irnprovements consist of a neat little hotel, two plunge 



KORTHERX UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 119 

baths, 16 by 20 feet, with nicely furnished dressing rooms attached, a number 
of smaller rooms fitted up with the ordinary bathing-tanks, and also a very 
pleasing feature in the way of an open lake 160 by 160 feet, from 3 to 5 feet 
deep, filled with the same hot spring water, and to be used for both swimming 
and boating. Good beds and a tip-top table are provided regular guests at $10 
per week, with baths included; baths alone are only ^5 cents each. Boats and 
bathing suits are at hand for use on the lake. Hot Springs is a regular station 
and postoffice on the Utah & Northern, and through the efforts of Dr. R. H. 
Slater — the proprietor of the hotel and springs — seems destined to soon be one 
of the most popular resorts in Utah. 

Willard, 14 miles north of Ogden, is without doubt the most beautifully 
located town in Northern Utah. The waters of the great lake wash its western 
exposure, while the mountams rise up grandly on the east. Highly cultivated 
farms crowd up to the mountains and to the lake-side alike, and the village is 
embowered in orchards and shade trees. From its commanding position, Wil- 
lard affords one of the most charming views of our Dead Sea, and I believe is 
destined to soon be a resort for pleasure-seekers from both the east and west. 
In the mountains above is seen a great fissure rising from base to summit, the 
walls having a reddish tinge, and assuming forms as varied and beautiful as 
some of those in our leading cafions. On the north side of this immense gash 
are some noted iron mines, the "Iron Chief" and "Saratoga " being visible a 
thousand feet above the track by the piles of bright brown ore lying near them. 
The country continues rich and thickly populated almost until 

Brlgham City, 23 miles, is reached. Brigham was named in honor of the 
late Mormon leader. It is a thriving city of 2,500 people, and is only second in 
importance as a manufacturing center to Salt Lake City. It is essentially self- 
supporting, as about every article needed for wear or use is produced by the 
community. Here are extensive woolen-mills, tannery, two furniture factories, 
saw-mills, planing-mills, etc., all working up raw material from the forests or 
products of rural industry. Butter and cheese are also largely produced here 
for exportation. Box Elder Cafion is a gash in the Wasatch range near the 
town worthy of a visit. Box Elder county, of which Brigham is the county seat, 
has large areas of grazing lands, and the mountains in the western part, which 
lie near the Nevada line, are noted for their deposits of silver. Contiguous to 
Brigham on the north, is a broad stretch of level hay-lands, from which thou- 
sands of tons of hay are cut for local and outside markets. Four or five miles to 
the west can be seen the town of Corinne, which in days past has figured largely in 
the Montana freighting business, but which now declines, owing to the inevitable 
march of the iron horse northward. 

Water-Fowl. — Some of the best duck hunting in the territory can be had 
right here in sight of Brigham. Marshes extend far out from the lake proper 
toward the mountains, and are covered with ducks, geese and brant. Salt 
Lake City hunters consider this one of their choice by-ways and are often seen 
among the reeds filling their bags with water-fowl and snipe. Hunters will find 
fair hotel accommodations at the station. 

Leaving Brigham, the road enters the pasture-lands already referred to, and 
soon creeps up along the bench-lands to the summit of the divide between Salt 
Lake Valley and Cache Valley. As this altitude — 5,000 feet above sea-level — 
is being reached, the traveler gets fine views of Bear River, which is here pour- 



1:20 TO THE EOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

ing its waters southward, toward Salt Lake. It is the same river which was so 
greatly admired at Evanston, Wyoming. There it was flowing northward, a 
course which it kept for a hundred miles or more, until it rounded the northern 
end of Bear Lake, and finally turned toward the great reservoir of Utah. Small 
bands of Shoshone Indiajis, whom the Mormons call "Lamanites," are living 
in a semi-civilized manner along the river, and their rude huts and tepees can 
be seen as the visitor gets his first view of the stream north of Brigham. They 
cultivate the rich valley soil in summer, and hunt among the neighboring moun- 
tains or along the lakes and rivers in winter. During 1878 one settlement of 
these raised 2,000 bushels of wheat and 1,000 bushels of potatoes, besides im- 
proving their homes to some extent. 

Hampton Rock. — Near the summit of the divide, 43 miles north of Ogden, 
is Hampton Station, and a few hundred yards west of the road is the above 
landmark, which is peculiarly formed, and has something of a history. It 
is a bold crag of conglomerate, overlooking the valley. The rock is simply a 
mass of very small shells, is easily cut with an ax, and is quite generally used 
for building purposes. It hardens with exposure to the atmosphere. In cutting 
into the rock, a few years ago, the quarrymen found part of the petrified bones 
of what they believed was once a buffalo. Their theory for the appearance of 
buffalo hones in a mass of petrijied sea-shells is, that when the briny waters of 
Great Salt Lake covered all this interior basin, an inquisitive buffalo came down 
from the grassy bluffs surrounding, saw this little island out a few hundred 
yards from the shore, and made liis way to it. The island proved to be only a 
bed of shells and quicksand, the "king of the plains" sank to an inglorious 
death, was pickled, petrified, and finally "resurrected." 

Cache Valley. — Shortly after leaving Hampton, this great valley, the 
"Utah Wheat Granary," came in fuU view in front and to the right. The 
valley will average more than a dozen miles in width, and is some fifty miles 
long, extending north over the Utah line into Idaho. In few places have I ever 
seen valley line and mountain base so well defined. At many places, not even 
the graceful foot-hills intervene, and on the east side an almost unbroken range 
for fifty miles rises abruptly 3,000 feet above the valley. No wonder those tower- 
ing walls, with their many sharply outlined citadels running up into the clouds, 
are the pride of Cache Valley pioneers. They send coursing through the valley 
dozens of beautifying, earth-nourishing streams; they repel the furious winds of 
outer plains; they furnish an almost perfect barrier against the escape of the 
valley's wealth — the thousands of cattle and sheep produced; and they afford 
an abundance of splendid fuel and building material, while their treasures in 
silver and gold will ere long fill the country with consumers, and thereby create 
that great desideratum, a home market. The surface of the valley is quite level. 
In glancing along the course of the irrigating ditch — which can often be located 
on a "bee line" from the mountains on account of this regularity — you will 
here more than ever unconsciously assert that the sparkling streamlet is running 
uphill. Villages are strung all along the Utah & Northern Railway in this valley, 
from its point of entrance at ]\Iendon to its exit beyond Franklin. The popula- 
tion is estimated at 14,000. The inhabitants are principally well-to-do Mormon 
farmers and stock-raisers, although manufacturing is quite extensively engaged 
in at several points. Having an average elevation of only 4,500 feet above sea 
level, and possessing very fertile soil, the valley lands produce all cereals and 



122 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

hartly vegetables in great abundance. Nearly 1,000.000 bushels of grain and 
vegetabfes bavo been produced here in one season, and the area is not half util- 
ized. There are nine flouring-mills, one pearl-barley mill, several woolen-mills, 
saw-mills, a foundry, pianing-mill, etc., in the valley, all run by water-power 
from the swift streams. The Bear, Logan, Cub, Blacksmith's Fork and Little 
Bear rivers are the principal streams. They are fed by many others, and nearly 
all are full of trout and other fish. Prairie chickens are plentiful among the 
firms, within sight of the track, from one end of the valley to the other. Ducks 
and other water-fowl abound, and the thickly wooded banks of all the streams 
atford good cover for the sportsman. All of these mountain ranges are full of 
deer, elk and other large game. Logan would be the best point of rendezvous 
for hunters. Entering the valley at Mendon station, 53 miles north of Ogden, 
the road sweeps across the meadows and streams to the east side, and passes 
through 

Logan, 60 miles from Ogden. Logan is the county seat of Cache county, 
beautifully situated near the mouth of Logan Cation, and boasts a population of 
4,000. Most of the manufacturing enterprises above noted are located here, and 
they give the town quite a lively air, as well as good solid foundation for pros- 
perity. The lumber interest is probably most important, four large mills sawing 
and working logs from the mountains into lumber of all kinds, furniture, 
etc. Fine farms surround Logan, and dairying is a leading industry in the 
vicinity. A large Mormon temple is now being erected here. It is built of stone, 
171 by 95 feet, and the highest tower is to rise about 200 feet above the street. 
Logan Canon is one of the wildest and deepest gorges in the Wasatch moun- 
tains — a range in which gorges are pretty well developed — and is over 50 miles 
in length. Trout fishing in the river is first class. A good road leads into the 
most interesting portions of the Caiion. Logan itself commands a magnificent 
view, embracing 600 square miles of valley and mountain landscapes. Hotel 
fare good, at $2 per day. Seven miles south of Logan is Hyrum, general head- 
quarters for lumber dealers and manufacturers. Over 1,000,000 feet of lumber, 
and some 200,000 railroad ties, were cut from the neighboring mountains in 
1878. Ties are floated out to Bear river, thence down to the Pacific Railway, 
and the lumber is shipped southward over the Utah & Northern. A few miles 
farther south is Paradise; and I am loth to chronicle the fact that Paradise is 
twelve miles away from the railroad. The village contains 500 people, who, in 
spite of their celestial abiding place, are busily engaged in producing a first-class 
article of Utah sorghum molasses, and a very fine grade of American beef cattle. 
From Logan there is semi-weekly mail to Hyrum and Paradise, and tri-weekly 
mail to Newton, 12 miles; Clarkson, 18; Weston, 24, and Oxford, 49 miles. 

Smithfield. — The next station of note on the Utah & Northern is Smithfield, 
67 miles north of Ogden. It is a farming community of about 1,000 inhab- 
itants. More wheat is raised here than is produced by any other community in 
the valley. Farms are blocked out for miles on either side of the village. In 
the early days of settlement here all built their houses together as a means of 
protection against the savages, and to this day the farms are without buildings 
of any kind. All grain is hauled to the village and threshed, and all other 
property is kept there closely under the eyes of the owner. One of the largest 
flouring mills in Utah is located on the banks of the pretty and swift-flowing 
Summit creek, which dashes down past Smithfield. A large tannery is also in 
-Operation here. 



NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 123 

Richmond — 74 miles — attracted attention, especially, by its immense barns, 
■which remind the visitor of those of the far Eastern States, and also stfggest 
thrift and good living. Fruit and grain-raising are the specialties here. All of 
these settlements are nestled closely at the base of the mountains on the right, 
where the mountain streams and forests are more readily utilized ; but three or 
four miles to the left of Richmond, and occupying a high plateau between Bear 
and Club rivers, is Lewiston settlement, where several hundred farmers have been 
producing good crops, without irrigation, for several yeai's. This would indi- 
cate that other rich uplands in Cache Valley, which cannot be irrigated without 
considerable difficulty, may also be rendered productive. 

Following Richmond, and distant 80 miles from Ogden, is Franklin, the last 
station in Cache Valley, and one which, under the old management of the road, 
was for several years known as the northern terminus. The glory of the erst- 
while transfer and outfitting point has in one short year flown nearly 150 miles 
northward, following closely in the wake of the Utah & Northern construction 
trains, and the two or three hundred villagers of ante-railroad days are left in 
quiet possession of their orchards and grassy commons. But we should not forget 
that a mile south of Franklin we crossed the Idaho line, and that for the next 
200 miles the course of the Utah & Northern is across the eastern portion of this 
young commonwealth. 

IDAHO TERRITORY. 

Idaho in the Indian tongue, we are told, means " Gem of the Mountains," 
and the Territory has thus far seemed to hold the title undisputed on account of 
its great diversity of resources, its mild and healthful climate and its fine scenery. 
It is about 400 miles long north and south and 300 miles wide across its widest 
portion, boasting an area of 86,000 square miles. The population is estimated 
at 20,000. Its surface is quite broken, short, disconnected mountain ranges, 
grouped in every conceivable form and running in all directions of the compass, 
being striking peculiarities of its landscape. Of course Idaho is not without its 
fertile valleys, large and small — or its occasional stretches of sage brush plain 
either ; but these sage brush plams are easily cleared and make the best wheat 
lands in the world when irrigated. The mountains are usually covered with 
forests of pine, fir and other timber, and contain stored away in their deep 
recesses untold treasures of gold, silver, copper and other metals. Large quan- 
tities of ore in different districts are so rich that they are conveyed over the 
mountains many miles on pack animals to wagon roads, thence down to the 
Union Pacific 250 to 350 miles distant and eastward to Omaha or the far-away 
seaboard for reduction. The mines of Idaho have thus far yielded some $65,- 
000,000. We should remember, too, that quartz mining has hardly begun and 
that tens of thousands of square miles of Idaho's rugged mountain country yet 
remain to be prospected. 

The capacity of soil and climate for a wide range of productions may best be 
judged from the fact that not only do all the cereals and vegetables which can be 
raised north of the cotton growing line in the Atlantic States flourish in the 
greatest perfection here, but that Idaho apples, pears, plums, peaches, grapes, 
nectarines, apricots, and many of the smaller fruits, are pronounced very superior 
in size and flavor by all visitors. At Lewiston, peaches are found blossoming in 



124 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the middle of February. Fruit trees and vines grow very rapidly. The long, 
dry summers, abundance of sunlight, a warm, sandy so;l with perfect under- 
drainage and the plentiful water supply afford all the conditions necessary for 
the rapid growth and ornamentation of orchards and vineyards. Mei-cury rarely 
falls to 10 degrees below zero in any of the valleys, and that only during the 
coldest nights of winter. Idaho enjoys the same bright winter and summ.er 
skies, the equable temperature and cool summer nights already described as 
common to the Rocky Mountains, with, in addition, a tinge of the semi-tropical 
blasts from the Pacific. Cattle, sheep and horses require but little prepared 
feed, and rarely shelter, on the great stock ranges. Wheat yields an average of 
35 bushels to the acre, and we are told of large fields in western Idaho which aver 
aged 65 bushels per acre ; oats average 55 bushels, an exception being noted 
recently in which a north Idaho farmer raised 1,164 bushels on ten acres or 116^ 
bushels per acre. Farms are to be had in almost any of the desirable valloy.s 
under the homestead and preemption laws. The principal valleys are those of 
Snake, Salmon, Weiser, Boise, Clearwater, Raft, Owyhee, Payette, Clarke's P'ork 
of the Columbia and Malad rivers, ranging from 100 to 1,000 miles in length and 
enlarging from caiion width often to an arable area five, ten and even twenty 
miles wide. Produce sells at the principal towns at about the following prices: 
wheat, 90 cents per bushel; oats, 50 cents; potatoes, 1}4 cents per pound; butter 
40 cents; eggs, 35 cents per dozen; chickens, $6 per dozen; bacon, 25 cents per 
pound ; hay, $15 per ton ; wool, 20 cents per pound ; wood $7 per cord. The 
expenses of living can also be inferred from the cost of the following items: 
coffee, 33 cents per pound; sugar, 20 to 25 cents; tea, 75 to $1; prints, 10 cents 
per yard; flannels, 35 to 60 cents. There is a fair demand for mechanics of 
nearly all kinds at from $4 to $6 per day. The surplus grain is shipped by 
steamer down Snake River from Lewiston, in western Idaho, to the Pacific Ocean, 
and thence to Europe, at remunerative prices. Idaho is a good country to emi- 
grate to for those who desire to procure homes on public domain. Dairying, 
stock raising, farming, are all open avenues to competency for those of small 
capital and a willingness to work, and there are few such fields for either 
the capitalist or prospector as are presented in the vast and enormously rich 
gold and silver belts of " The Gem of the Mountains." 

Tourists will find much to interest them. Placid valleys basking in the sun- 
shine, with gigantic snow-clad mountains towering in the background; bold, 
dashing rivers, with waterfalls 200 feet high — among these the great Shoshone, 
of Snake River, aptly called the " Western Niagara"; lakes amid the mountain 
tops, with myriads of fish disporting in their translucent depths, or waterfowl 
covering their placid surfaces; and surrounding forests inhabited by the elk, 
deer, mountain sheep, goat and bear — are all here, with no embarrassing 
amount of civilization, if the health-seeker or Nimrod should fear that. In the 
romantic Payette Lakes, near Boise City, are found a rare species of fish, called 
" red fish." Their flesh is beautifully red; they weigh as high as eight and ten 
pounds each, and are not only very "gamy," but delicious eating. Only 
three other lakes in the world are known to contain this variety of fish. Of the 
fur-bearing animals may be mentioned the wolf, red fox, silver-gray fox, beaver, 
mink, martin and muskrat as being numerous. Among the many natural 
curiosities of the territory are the hot springs found near Boise City and along 
the Utah & Northern Railroad, already noted for the medicinal properties of 



NORTHERN" UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 125 

their waters; the great salt springs, not far from Eagle Rock, elsewhere de- 
scribed; the grand Salmon River Canon, a gash in the Salmon range over 50 
miles long, of surpassing wilJness, sublimity and beauty; and the wonderful 
lava fissures and dykes along Snake River — fissures sometimes of unfathomable 
depth, and through which Snake River pours its mighty volume to the western 
sea, and dykes often stretching away for dozens of miles, composed of the black, 
once super- heated, lava, harder than any granite, and sometimes resembling 
the well known formation of the Giant's Causeway, on Erin's shores. 

Boise City, the capital, and, thus far, commercial center of Idaho, is pleas- 
antly located on Boise River, 225 miles west of the Utah & Northern Railroad 
at Eagle Rock. Its altitude is 2,880 feet above sea level, and it contains some 
2,000 inhabitants. It is solidly built, contains four churches, three schools. 
United States assay office, two good tri- weekly papers — the Statesman and 
Idahoan — Masonic temple, and penitentiary; and the business of the pretty 
little city can be judged from the fact that Boise merchants receive from 
3,000,000 to 4,000,000 pounds of freight annually. Other prominent points are 
Silver City, Idaho City, Lewiston and Salmon City, all boasting schools, churches 
and other marks of progressive communities. They can all be reached from 
points on the Utah & Northern Railroad, noted in pages following. In this 
general r6sum<3 of Idaho, we have already exceeded our rightful limits, and 
must turn to our journey. 

Across Eastern Idaho. — Adjoining Cache Valley on the northwest, and 
several hundred feet nearer cloudland, is Round Valley. It is 30 miles long by 
some 15 broad. The railroad here crosses a region thousands of acres in extent, 
which affords superb pasturage, but which is only sparsely settled as yet. 
Emerging from this broad upland, we obtain a lovely view of Bear River and 
Valley, both soon crossed on the newly-laid rails. Near the crossing the road 
enters Battle Creek Cauon, and Battle Creek Canon gets its name from that 
terrible thrashing General Connor here administered to a large encampment of 
hostile Bannacks some ten years ago. The fight was hotly contested; but, after 
losing half their number, the savages fled ingloriously, and they have had a 
wholesome remembrance of the occasion all these years. Closely following is 
Marsh Valley, a region abounding in lakes and marshes, and sometimes flanked 
by very picturesque masses of reddish sandstone. 

Swan Lake, at the station of the same name, 106 miles north of Ogden, is 
conspicuous, with other smaller sheets, for the thousands of snow-white swans, 
geese, ducks and other waterfowl mirrored in its waters. Swan Lake is a mile 
long and about a quarter of a mile wide, resting amid high hills, and its shores 
fringed with luxuriant reeds and grasses. 

The Great Soda Springs — At Oneida, 125 miles north of Ogden, we find a 
tri- weekly conveyance plying to this long- famous resort, which is 35 miles east 
of the railroad. So'da Springs are located within a stone's throw of Bear River, 
and near the great "bend" already alluded to. One spring is graced with a 
lively stream vent, which finds its way upward through an orifice in a massive 
boulder. Fremont named it "Steamboat Spring," on account of its measured 
puff which resembles that of an engine. A group of four of the other springs 
have attracted particular attention on account of the curative properties of the 
waters. The strongly mineralized fluid is ever bubbling up from the depths of 
pretty basins, and is as pleasant as a beverage as it has been found exhilarating 



126 TO THE KOCKIES AXD BEYOKD. 

and strengthening as a tonic. Invalids with some of the most deep-set and 
loathsome blood diseases claim to have found a perfect cure in these fountains. 
A mile distant are other and little less interesting springs, the waters of which 
are so pregnant with calcareous matter as to quickly form a coating of limestone 
upon any object immersed in them. 

The vicinity abounds in other attractions, which must soon win thousands to 
summer sojourns. Near the spi-ings last referred to is a pretty little lake upon 
which, subject even to the passing breezes, is a floating island of earth and 
luxuriant vegetation, which has been set adrift from the shore. Four miles 
southeast of Soda Springs is another " Swan Lake," one of the loveliest natural 
gems set in the Wasatch chain. It reclines in an oval basin, whose i-im is ten 
feet above the surrounding country. The shores are densely covered with trees, 
shrubs and the luxuriant undergrowth native to that country. The oullet is a 
series of small moss-covered basins, symmetrically arranged, the clear water 
overflowing the banks, trickling into the nearest emerald tub, then successively 
into others, until it forms a sparkling stream, and dances away to a confluence 
with Bear River in the valley below. It is a matter of common belief among old 
residents of the locality that the lake is bottomless, no soundings having yet 
developed its depth. Adjacent to this fit abode for water-nymphs is the singular 
sulphur lake, out of whose center liquid sulphur incessantly boils, and coats the 
shores with thick deposits, looking as though it might be a direct out-cropping 
of Plutonian regions. Salmon and trout fishing is superb in the clear water of 
the lakes and streams. Deer, geese, ducks, grouse, sage hens and prairie chick- 
ens are also found in great numbers in the vicinity, all together holding out 
rare charms for the traveler, health-seeker, or disciple of the gun and rod. 

This was once the favorite resort of Brigham Young, and is still the regular 
summering place of numerous Salt Lake City merchants, \yho have built appro- 
priate residences. A hotel of moderate accommodations and the abiding places 
of a few regular residents tend to make of Soda Springs quite a hamlet. 

The Blackfoot and Fort Hall. — Journeying northward on the Utah & North- 
ern, we pass through picturesque Portneuf Canon, several times crossing the 
clear, swift river of the same name, passing Black Rock station at 152 miles, and 
tarrying briefly at Blackfoot, 180 niiles from Ogden. Old Fort Hall, a few miles 
west of the road, is one of the oldest historical points in Idaho, having been 
established by the Hudson Bay Fur Company more than half a century ago. 
An old hunter stiU living in the vicinity wintered here as early as 1833, and 
tells of meeting the celebrated Kit Carson and Colonel Subletz in one of the 
block-houses during that winter. Buff'alo, so numerous on this side of the 
mountains at that day, have entirely disappeared; and the old trapper thinks 
the coming of the iron horse a sad innovation. The old fort, with a tract of 
land forty miles square, is now used as an Indian agency and reservation, while 
the military has taken up its abode at New Fort Hall, seven miles east of 
Blackfoot Station. 

Blackfoot river, near the station, is a strong mountain stream two feet deep 
and -50 wide. Here we enter a splendid stretch of farming country — a stretch 
extending to the big bend of Snake River, 50 miles to the northwest, and being 
from 8 to 15 miles wide. Many ranch sites have been staked otf during the 
past six months, and we are told of an important irrigation enterprise which 
has ah-eady been inaugurated. A ditch to he some 40 miles long, and with 



NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 127 

ample capacity to water 50,000 acres of land, is being led along the foot of the 
bluft's overlooking this great tract, which, up to a year ago, had never been 
touched by the ploughshare. We have also virtually entered the 

SNAKE RIVER GOLD FIELDS, 

as the river named is only a mile or two distant, and placer claims have been 
staked off on all sides. Ever since the earliest Idaho and Montana "stampedes," 
gold has been known to exist in different bars along Snake River, in Eastern 
Idaho. The metal, however, was generally found in the form of " flour gold," 
and, during all these years, has been passed by as almost worthless, because 
it could not be saved by the ordinary process of sluicing. Only a year ago 
several ingenious Salt Lake miners began experimenting with green copper 
plates electroplated with silver, by which the precious metal, however fine, may 
be saved at slight expense. These plates are about one-fourth of an inch in 
thickness, of any convenient area, and are put up like an inverted V. They are 
first given a coat of mercury, which readily adheres to the surface, when the 
gold-bearing sand is sluiced on from a flume, and what gold it contains adheres 
to the mercury, which, when thoroughly impregnated with gold particles, is 
scraped ofi" and retorted, leaving the gold pure and ready for shipment. A 
careful investigator asserts that the plate process is bound to revolutionize 
placer mining where gold is discovered in particles too small to pan or sluice; 
and even Chinese diggings will become desirable and paying properties wher- 
ever the plates can be brought into requisition. 

Messrs. James Lane & Co., who are now operating with these plates near 
the mouth of Raft River, and only about 75 miles from the Utah & Northern 
Railroad, are panning out from $20 to f 40 per day to the man. Four men 
operate two sets of plates, and a ten days' run in December netted the pro- 
prietors $70 per day. The miner receives $1.50 per day and board. The results 
of this new process, therefore, are certain to create general excitement, and it is 
safe to predict that during 1879 the Snake River sand-bars, from one end of the 
the stream to the other, will be located and worked. 

The cliief advantage of these Snake River diggings, says the Salt Lake 
Tribune, is that they are not confined to any one gulch or bar. "The river is 
1,100 miles long, and the fine gold has been found along the banks in every bar 
for a distance of 400 miles. A careful examination of the country, and frequent 
tests of the ground, indicate that the metal abounds where previously it has 
been unlooked for; that the vast extent of the diggings makes up in part for the 
extreme fineness of the deposits, and that there are places along the stream 
where the gold is sufficiently coarse to render sluicing exceedingly profitable to 
careful and experienced miners. Perhaps the most singular feature of the 
country is the very general distribution of the gold, for though some locations 
near the Snake are undoubtedly superior to others, there is scarcely a foot of 
ground within ten miles of the river, as far up or down as any prospecting has , 
been done, that will not prospect colors more or less numerous. 

" The presence of gold in vast quantity, therefore, is beyond all question, and 
it now remains to ascertain the best and the cheapest process of securing it. 
The copper plates with their covering of mercury, to which the gold adheres, 
will most likely be found to do the work, and their extensive employment in 



128 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

this region by those able to purchase them is already certain. Their operation 
has been critically examined by several prominent mining men of Salt Lake, 
who have worked them with their own hands the better to satisfy themselves of 
their value; and in all cases, unbounded confidence has been expressed in their 
utility. Better than anybody's opinion, however, and more reliable than any 
expert's report, is the stubborn fact that at every weekly clean-up, from 75 to 100 
ounces of gold are collected and expressed direct to San Francisco." 

A correspondent located at Salmon Falls, Alturas county, Idaho, some 200 
miles down Snake river from the Utah & Northern crossing, writing under 
date of December 26, 1878, has the following to say concerning the outlook in 
his section: "This is a very promising portion of the Snake river gold fields. I 
think the best for several reasons. Mining experts say, who have been over the 
ground from here down the river, 40 miles to Glenn's Ferry, and from here up 
the river to Blackfoot, the present terminus of the Utah & Northern railroad, 
that we have the best facilities for working these immense gravel deposits. 
Among the reasons for this is the fact that the water ditches which a number of 
the companies have, run directly over the claims, and those not having water 
will be at an expense of from $100 to $250, which is the highest estimated cost 
of any ditch that is proposed to be dug. 

" Our gravel is deeper and prospects better; we have more fall and can work 
here the year round, the river never freezing at this point. There are immense 
springs that come out of the lava beds, or the surrounding plains, forming little 
rivers of themselves and emptying into the Snake, for a distance of 50 miles 
along the river. These springs are colder in summer than in the winter. It is 
impossible for a man to take a shovelful of gravel out of the banks without get- 
ting fine gold in smaller or greater quantities, and when we take into considera- 
tion that one man handles tons of the gravel in a day with a hydraulic, — which 
is a portion of the process used to work it, — you can form an idea whether 
'there's millions in it,' or not. I feel myself a second 'Bonanza King.' Gold 
floats before my vision as it did in the wonderful cave before Aladdin's eyes. The 
river along here is lined with locations that prospect well, and with locations 
that turn out many colors, and are held for speculation, I suppose. It takes capi- 
tal to work one of the claims; that is, to get the necessary machinery required 
to save the gold. We have a district formed here called the 'Salmon Falls 
Mining District, ' running from the mouth of the Malad to Payne's Ferry, taking 
both sides of the river for four or five miles back. There are two other districts 
formed on the river, one above reaching to the famous Shoshone Falls, and taking 
in that most wonderful caiion with perpendicular walls 400 feet high, and where 
men in 1869-70 made as high as $100 a day to the man, with a rocker, a copper 
plate, and a bottle of cyanide of potassium. The other district is the Eureka, 
below us, in both of which there are new locations made every day. By the way, 
there were men who made $9 per day to the man, at Payne's Ferry, the upper 
end of our district, and Wickham and Donovan, with a small beach machine 
_ and a few sluice boxes, have been averaging $15 to the man ever since they 
started up last February. This is going to be a great mining country. The 
river banks are rich in fine gold, and these new silver electro-plated copper 
plates are going to save it. They have proven beyond doubt what they will do, 
up at Bonanza Bar. Our climate is mild, having very little snow, and when it 
does fall it never lasts more than 12 hours. We have rain in the fore part of 



130 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

the winter. Our spring commences about the middle of Februarj'. This climate 
is favorable for mining. From the number of letters I receive asking fm- infor- 
mation, I think there vfill be quite an immigration here next spring and sum- 
mer." 

This vast new region, already awakened by the rumble of the Utah & 
Northern locomotives, is as easily accessible as any railroad point in the west. 
Its discovery just at this time augurs brightly for the Montana branch of the 
Union Pacific. Eagle Rock, at which point the Utah S: Northern Railroad crosses 
Snake River, is within a few moments' walk of some of -the bars referred to 
above — indeed, the soil for miles thereabouts will, it is said, show good "pros- 
pects" of this fine gold. Miners' outfits are obtainable at Blackfoot or Eagle 
Rock, at reasonable prices. 

Eagle Rock. — Northward from Blackfoot, 30 miles, or from Ogden, 20G miles, 
is old Eagle Rock Bridge across Snake River, and the present (Aprd, 1879) tem- 
porary terminus of the Utah & Northern Railroad. It is one of the most interest- 
ing spots between the Union Pacific Railroad and the Montana lino, although a 
misnomer, as Eagle Rock, a black lava crag in mid-river, is 10 miles further up 
the Snake. The majestic and navigable flood, the noblest of Idaho rivers, here 
dashes its entire volume through an ominous rock- walled fissure less than 50 feet 
wide. The staunch old wagon bridge resting at either end on the singular lava 
palisades, is 60 feet above low water mark. Soundings of the deep blue stream 
made from the bridge failed to discover bottom at 240 feet. It is near here that 
a (Striking resemblance of the formation to that of the Giant's Causeway in the 
old world, is noticeable. A few yards below the old bridge the splendid new 
iron structure of the Utah & Northern spans the stream. Snake River abounds 
in salmon trout of great size and voracious appetites. They are a welcome fea- 
ture of bills of fare at eating stations along the road. The stream is over 1000 
miles long, and waters a vast area of fine farming and grazing lands. 

Near here we obtain excellent views of those noted landmarks, the Three 
Tetons, 100 miles away to the northeast; the Salmon River range, about the 
same distance on the west, and Black Butte, 50 miles to the northward. Never 
have I seen such jagged, sharp-pinnacled, and apparently insurmountable land- 
marks as the glacier-crowned Tetons, — indeed, one of them leans in its awful 
abruptness, far out beyond the perpendicular, seeming almost ready to topple 
into the profound depths of chasms at its base. 

Willow Creek Valley, flanking the valley of the Snake on the east, and only 
a few miles from Eagle Rock, promises to be one of the garden spots of Idaho. 
It is some 20 miles long and half a dozen wide; possesses a fertile soil, and is 
convenient to good pine timber. Quite a compact little settlement is already 
seen in the lower end of the valley. 

The Oneida Salfirorks. — Among the most important developments in the 
vast region now being opened up by the Utah & Northern, are those at the salt 
springs, on what is known as the Old Lander Emigrant Road, leading from South 
Pass to Oregon, and about 85 mil^s east of Eagle Rock Bridge. The road named 
passes directly along the flat below the spring, where, before being concentrated 
in pipes, the water had spread out, and evaporating in the sun, formed large 
masses of salt crystals which attracted the attention of passers-by, and led to 
the discovery of the spring flowing from the hillside above. It is clear and 
sparkling as the purest spring water, and never would be suspected of containing 



NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 131! 

mineral. The valley in which it is situated is known now as Salt Spring Valley, 
and is about 10 miles long by an average of one mile wide; through it flows' 
a rapid stream filled with mountain trout. The salt springs were first taken up 
by B. F. White, Esq., (the present owner,) and partner, in June, 1866, and' 
works have since been in constant operation, every year witnessing an increase 
in the demand, until almost the entire stream flowing from the spring has been 
utilized. The salt is made by boiling the water in large galvanized iron pans, ' 
into which it is led by wooden pipes leading direct from the spring, thus insur- 
ing perfect cleanliness, and a uniformly white, clean and beautiful product. 
The water is kept constantly running into the boilers and is kept at a boiling- 
heat all the time. The salt is shoveled out once in every 30 minutes, and after 
draining for 24 hours is thence thrown into the drying house, there to remain 
until sacked and prepared for shipping. The most scrupulous cleanliness is ob- 
served in every operation, and when the immense banks of salt lie piled up in 
the drying house they resemble huge snow-banks more than anything one could 
imagine. It takes from 2 to 4 months for salt made in this manner to dry and 
ripen, and for this reason it becomes necessary to keep on hand a large supply, 
so that at any time a thousand tons of the purest and whitest salt in the world 
may be seen here in these far west "Oneida Saltworks." 

Following is an analysis of the Oneida salt, made by Dr. Piggot, (he well- 
known analytical chemist, of Baltimore. It shows a higher percentage of pure 
salt than the celebrated Onondaga brand, manufactured at Syracuse, while 
neither "Liverpool," "Turk's Island " or " Saginaw " salt approach it in pur- 
ity, or are as white, clear or soluble in liquids : 

Chloride of Sodium (pure salt) 97.79' 

Sulph. Soda. 1.54 

Chloride of Calcium • 67 > 

Sulph. Magnesia Trace 

100.00 
In 1866 only 15,000 pounds of salt were here manufactured; but the demand 
in Idaho, Utah and Montana has so steadily increased that the product has since 
averaged about 600,000 per annum, and ran up to 1,500,000 pounds in 1878; 
much of this last year's production having been consumed in Montana smelting 
works. It is sacked in 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 pound bags, and is laid down at 
points 300 miles distant, by wagon transportation, at from 3 to 4 cemts pec 
pound. 

The country surrounding the springs is covered with a thick carpeting of rich 
and nutritious grasses, sufficient to pasture a nation of cattle. Salt River Valley, 
only a few miles from the works, is 50 miles long by an average of five miles 
wide. Residents claim that it is the best watered valley in Idaho, and that it 
would alone support a population of over 50,000 souls, if settled up and properly- 
cultivated. The Caribou gold mines are 15 miles to the west toward Snake 
River. So far, only placer mining has been engaged in; but, during the past 
season, several well known mining experts-from Salt Lake have visited that 
section, and it is confidently asserted that another year there will be quartz 
developments in this camp second to none in the country. The Caribou mines 
are only 60 miles from the Utah & Northern Railroad at Eagle Rock, and -mil ia 
due time add much to the business of the road, as well as furnish a good market 
for farmers who may locate in neighboring valleys. 



132 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 



THE SALMON RIVER MINES. 



The view from Eagle Rock to the northwest, as already indicated, takes in 
an almost boundless and an exquisitely beautiful vista of rugged, snow-capped 
mountains. The central group of these is the great Salmon River range, 125 
miles away, a region which is just now deservedly attracting much attention in 
western mining circles, but which is only recognized in the busy eastern world 
as a real terra incognita. The Salmon River, Yankee Fork and Loon Creek 
gulch mines have long been quietly sending southward fine lots of nuggets and 
dust. But it has remained for the railway era to open up the wonderfully rich 
quartz mines which have been first systematically worked the past season. The 
principal quartz districts lie along Salmon River and its tributaries, covering an 
area of some 10,000 square miles. The entire region is abundantly watered 
with clear, swift mountain streams, and timbered with pine, spruce, cedar and 
other varieties of soft wood. The Salmon River range occupies almost the 
entire area, and renders it one of the roughest and most difficult of access in 
the whole Rocky Mountain country. The two or three arable valleys of any 
considerable extent, having an altitude of only from 3,800 to 5,000 feet above 
the sea, and being extremely fertile, are already bemg rapidly turned into pro- 
ductive farms and garden spots. Road-making has been necessarily slow, and 
the diflPerent camps, far from railways, often harassed by savages, and having, 
until the past season, only been connected by trails, have done much to atti'act 
even the slightest notice from the outside world. Nearly all merchandise has 
been distributed from Salmon City to the various camps, from 25 to 100 miles 
distant, on pack- mules, while ores have been brought back the same way. 
However, the marvelous richness of the ores in difterent mines, the rapid exten- 
sion of the Utah & Northern Railroad, and the great interest recently manifested 
by outside capitalists in the various districts, are bringing about the natural 
results. From now henceforward the construction of roads, bridges, mills and 
other needed improvements is assured, and the wealth of the Salmon River mines 
will be as familiar a theme as that of any of the bonanza districts of Colorado, 
Montana or Nevada. 

The mines are in numerous instances well defined ledges of both gold and 
silver. In the Yankee Fork district, 90 miles southwest of Salmon City, are the 
noted "Chas. Dickens" and "Ramshorn" mines, carrying ores which yield 
from $300 to $1,000 in silver to the ton, and a considerable percentage of gold. 
A shipment of 100 tons of ore to Salt Lake City the past summer yielded an 
average of $550 per ton. The " Ramshorn " produced $40,000 last year. The 
"Chas. Dickens," discovered in 1877, has a record hard to beat. The owners 
were "dead broke," and, thinking to make a winter's grub stake, immediately 
went to pounding up surface quartz in a hand-mortar. In four weeks' time, 
with this one mortar, they took out $11,000. To wind up their work for the' 
fall, they took seven tons of ore by pack train to Salt Lake, and sold it for 
$3,500 per ton, and the parties to whom they sold made a handsome profit. 
The following spring, '78, they packed in lumber and built an arastra. The 
summer was consumed in getting it in working order, and it was late in the 
fall when they got it to grinding the ore. They worked six weeks before the 
winter's storms compelled them to close down, and they cleaned up $28,000. 
The tailings, vfhich were saved, assayed $204 per ton, mostly in silver. A 



NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 133 

tunnel is now in 520 feet on this mine, disclosing a continuous four-foot vein ot 
ore, wliich is said to average |300 worth of gold and silver to the ton. The 
"Montana" mine nearby shows an eight-foot vein of ore, from which ship- 
ments netting $2,000 to the ton have been made; and 15 tons of select ore 
now lying in the ore house contain $150,000 in gold and silver. It is reliably 
stated that not a ton of ore has been taken from the "Montana" that would 
not yield 11,000. 

The native gold ores found in this locality are marvelously rich. A run of 
2,800 pounds from the " Toronto " mine, in September last, in an arastra, yielded 
$1 in gold for every pound of ore. The " Shoo Fly " mine, on Moose Creek, is 
one of the largest deposits, showing a vein 14 feet wide. A test run of 1,000 
tons of ore taken from this vein without sorting yielded $30,000 in gold. Ores 
from the " Norton " mine are so rich that miners have made as high as $100 
per day in crushing selected specimens in an ordinary druggist's mortar. The 
" Norton " has a well defined crevice of seven feet. 

Thirty-five miles west of the Yankee Fork District is Stanley Basin District, 
rich in gold and silver quartz mines and containing some very good placer dig- 
gings. Small quantities of ore have also been shipped from here and proved 
of very high grade. Dahlonega Creek District, 45 miles north of Salmon City, 
also abounds in narrow but extremely rich veins of free gold ores. The quartz 
is thus far pronounced utterly free from all refractory metals, and averages in a 
dozen different mines from $25 to $40 per ton. A ten-stamp mill and half a 
dozen arastras are in successful operation here. About 100 men are busily at 
work in the Dahlonega Creek wilds. The camp is about 75 miles from Bannack 
City, Montana. 

The above are only a few of the more prominent districts and mines, whose 
marvelous i-ichness seems wholly without precedent in the mining world. Loca- 
tions of quartz mines already run up in the thousands, and not one-fourth of 
the country has been prospected. A dozen arastras and two stamp mills have 
been in operation the past summer and fall with a total product of some $200,000. 
About 700,000 pounds of ore, worth not less than $150,000, was shipped via 
the Utah & Northern Railroad to Salt Lake and other points during the same 
period. Copper, lead and coal also abound in different districts. 

Salmon City, the county seat of Lemhi county, and the present and pro- 
spective commercial center of the region, is located on the main Salmon River, 
near the junction of the Lemhi Fork, 175 miles northwest of the Utah & Northern 
terminus. Ibcontams some 500 inhabitants. There are two hotels, several general 
merchandise stores — one of which shipped in 750,000 pounds of goods during the 
past season — brewery, jewelry store, etc., at Salmon, and a good flouring- mill a 
short distance up the valley. The altitude is said to be less than that of Salt Lake, 
and experiments demonstrate that vegetables and cereals of all sorts flourish in 
the rich valley surrounding. Lemhi Valley, five miles wide, extends 30 miles 
' above town. Messrs. Woodard & Moore, who farm extensively two miles below 
Salmon City, produce about $9,000 worth of grain and vegetables per year. 
Trails lead to rich mining camps in every direction ; distances from Salmon 
City, as follows : Leesville gold mines, 15 miles; Dahlonega Creek, 45; Challis, 
65 ; Loon Creek, 100 ; Bonanza City, 110 ; Bannack, 75 ; Stanley Basin, 100 ; 
Salmon Silver District, 20. 

Challis, which the past season has served as an entrepot to the Yankee Fork 



134 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

District, is pleasantly located in Round Valley, 135 miles from Blackfoot station, 
on the Utah & Northern, and three miles from Salmon River. It contains 300 
inhabitants, with good stores and one or two hotels, and as it is at present the 
liead of navigation for prairie schooners and is the center of pack train trans- 
iportation for several good camps, is becoming something of a rival of Salmon 
City. Bonanza City, 35 miles west of Challis, also contains some 300 people, all 
directly or indirectly supported by the rich Yankee Fork mines. The population 
of the entire Salmon River region is estimated at from 1,500 to 2,000. 

The road now most extensively traveled by Salmon River freighters and 
aooiners turns directly westward from a station called Sand Hole, on the regular 
JVIontana stage route. Tri- weekly coaches of the Salisbury line run direct to 
Salmon City in from 50 to 60 hours. Fare from the temporary terminus of the 
Utah & Northern Railroad to Salmon City, $45. The road entering the Salmon 
IBiver region at Challis turns off directly to the northwest from Blackfoot Station, 
crossing Snake River at Central Ferry and reaching Challis in 135 miles. Wood, 
Tvater and grass arc plentiful enough for campers on either route. Miners' of 
farmers' outfits can be purchased at reasonable rates at the terminus or, with the 
cost of freight added, at either Challis or Salmon City. Transient board at the 
latter points from $3 to $2.50 per day, or by the week from $10 to $14. 

For Montana. — Gilmer, Salisbury & Co's line of daily Concord coaches, 
can-ying the mails and Union Pacific Express, connects with Utah & Northern 
trains at the terminus for all cities, towns and mining camps in Montana and 
JEastern Idaho. The telegraph also continues noiihward into the Montana set- 
tlements. Graders and track-layers are busily engaged in pushing the Utah & 
2^^orthern onward in the wake of these pioneering institutions to the Montana line, 
now only 100 miles away. Thus by early autumn the Territory will be reached, 
and that beautiful wonderland, Yellowstone Park, will be within less than 15 
iours' staging distance from the Pullman and parlor coaches of this splendid 
Xiarrow gauge. Distances by stage from Eagle Rock are about as follows: 
Ijovell's, Montana, 163 miles; Bannack, 190; Salisbury, 200; Virginia City, 
328; Glendale, 230; Butte, 253; Deer Lodge, 280; Helena, 290; Bozeman, 300; 
Missoula, 325. The stages consume from 36 to 72 hours in reaching these dif- 
ferent points. On April 1, 1879, the following rates were in effect: From Omaha 
to the prominent Montana points, 1st class, $100; 2d class, $75; emigrant, $45. 
Holders of 2d class and emigrant tickets, via Gilmer, Salisbury & Co's line, 
•wiU both be carried from the railway terminus to destination in covered mail 
■wagons. One hundred pounds of baggage carried free by rail; forty pounds free 
"by stage, on first-class; fifty pounds free by wagon on 2d class and emigrant; 
extra baggage on stage and wagon lines, fifteen cents per pound. Stages and 
Teragons run daily. 



EASTERN OREGON AND WASHINGTON. 

As the management of the Utah & Northern Railroad contemplate an early 
extension of the line westward, from Eagle Rock or some point in the vicinity, 
4o Oregon and Washington, and as the road already opens up a new and short 
xoute to those great commonwealths, a brief outline of tlieir attractions for the 
iiome-seeker may not come amisp bet-e . Tlipy contain together in round num- 



NORTHERN UTAH, IDAHO AND OREGON. 135 

bers an area of 200,000 square miles, or are four times greater in extent than 
New York, and twice as great as the six New England states and Ohio and 
Indiana combined — a vast empire, within whose bounds almost every variety 
of climate can be found, and whose mountains, plains and valleys send forth a 
greater diversity of products than any section of the globe. Together, they 
boast a coast Ime of 700 miles, and have 1,000 miles of navigable rivers. Oregon 
now contains 160,000 inhabitants, and Washington about 25,000. About a 
third of their extent is mountainous and heavily timbered, the remainder being 
composed lai'gely of grazing and agricultural lands. Gold, silver, iron, copper, 
coal and other minerals abound. The yield of the Oregon gold and silver mines 
has thus far been about $36,000,000, and its average annual yield now promises 
to be largely augmented by x'ecent developments in silver mines near the eastern 
boundary. Oregon contains 2,000,000 sheep — the increase from 300,000 in 
1870 — and, during the past season, marketed 6,000,000 pounds of wool. The 
State also has 500,000 head of cattle. It is estimated that Oregon and Wash- 
ington possess grazing lands which can easily be made to sustain 40,000,000 
sheep and 10,000,000 cattle. Oregon, with not one fifth of its agricultural 
domain utilized, produces 10,000,000 bushels of wheat annually, much of which 
is shipped direct to the old world. Other cereals are also extensively produced. 
The production of lumber is 100,000,000 feet, and of coal 60,000 tons annually, 
and the salmon exports foot up 450,000 cases per annum, worth $2,500,000. 
Seventy-five river steamers ply regularly on the Columbia in Oregon and Wash- 
ington. It may also be interesting, as an index of civilization and morality in 
this extreme northwest, for readers to know that Oregon has 700 free schools, 
valued at $500,000; 200 churches, valued at $700,000; 50 newspapers, and pub- 
lic buildings and improvements — made at federal, state or county expense — 
valued at $8,000,000. 

Oregon and Washington are each naturally divided into two distinct regions 
by the Cascade mountains, which traverse the commonwealths from north to 
south. The western or Pacific coast region receives an abundance of moisture 
from natural showers, while the climate of the eastern section more nearly re- 
sembles that of Idaho and Utah, rains still being a trifle more frequent and 
heavy in eastern Oregon and Washington than in any Rocky Mountain region 
east of the Sierras. At Dalles, eastern Oregon, on the 45th parallel, the mean 
temperature in spring is 53', in summer 60°, autumn 52°, winter 35°; mean 
temperature for the year 53°, or about 10 degrees warmer than the yearly 
average in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New York. In 
this section, too, snow rarely attains a depth of six inches in the valleys. This 
eastern section is 100,000 square miles in extent, and its 50,000 inhabitants are 
anxiously looking for nearer neighbors. The most extensive and productive 
valleys in this section are the Grande Ronde, Powder, John Day, Malheur, and 
Crooked. They produce nearly all the fruits common to our Middle States, 
including peaches and nectarines. 

They are still about 400 miles northwest of the Utah & Northern terminus, 
but rejoice in the possession of the navigable Columbia, upon which steamers 
run daily all the year. In March, 1878, work was progressing on a wagon road 
from Blackfoot station to Boise, and it is believed that this new route from the 
Utah & Northern Railroad to Oregon and Washington, via Boise, by which the 
distance to that section from any eastern point can be shortened several hun- 



136 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

dred miles, will be a well-traveled thoroughfare by early summer. The road 
north of Boise has been open and traversed by daily stages for years, and fares 
from Omaha via Kelton and Boise, or via San Francisco, the Pacific Ocean and 
Columbia River to the leading points in Oregon, average nearly as follows: 1st 
class, $125; 2d class, $113; emigrant, $80. The latest and lowest rates, to- 
gether with other valuable information relative to a journey to the northwest, 
can always be obtained upon application, in person or by letter, to Thos. L. 
Kimball, Omaha, Nebraska. 



CHAPTER VII. 

MONTANA TERRITORY. 

In the midst of our western mountains, a fitting crown of our continent, 
and sending to distant oceans two of America's grandest rivers, is the broad 
Territory of Montana. Next to the youngest, and hitherto one of the most 
isolated of our dependencies, Montana supplies a record and promises a future 
at which one may well pause in considering. Glance at the map, and try to 
realize what we mean when we say that Montana covers all that vast region 
lying between the forty-fifth and forty-ninth parallels of north latitude, and 
the one hundred and fourth and one hundred and sixteenth meridian of west 
longitude, extending five hundred and fifty miles from east to west, and 
nearly three hundred north and south — a total area of about 150,000 square 
miles, or nearly 100,000,000 acres. But perhaps we can all more fully ap- 
preciate the meaning of these figures when we remember that the six New 
England States and the great State of New York would not cover this area, 
that Minnesota and Iowa could be turned over upon it and a margin left for 
Connecticut to rest upon, or that England and Wales, Ireland and Scotland 
combined, do not near equal it in size. 

And how ridiculous would seem a comparison of the resources of any of our 
older or larger states with those of Montana. This magnificent empire of the 
new Northwest contains 16,000,000 acres of fertile farm lands, a more extensive 
area than is covered by an entire average Eastern State. It contains 38,000,000 
acres of unexcelled grazing lands, a pasture-field alone larger than the great 
prairie State of Illinois. Its surface underlaid with stratum flfter stratum of coal — 
largely embraced in the grazing and agricultural area already mentioned — 
amounts to 60,000 square miles, and would not only entirely cover the giant 
State of Pennsylvania, but would extend well over the boundaries of the com- 
monwealths which encompass that greatest of all our eastern coal-mining re- 
gions. And then Montana forests, 14,000,000 acres in extent, cover more terri- 
tory than those of the noted lumbering State of Michigan, whose product in this 
line reaches a valuation of $40,000,000 per annum. Of the mineral wealth of 
Montana the world knows more, for a region whose quartz veins and sluice- 
boxes have poured out over $150,000,000 in treasure in the first seventeen years 
of its settlement, under such discouragements as have fettered this Territory, 
cannot pass unnoticed. Remember, too, that this seemingly boundless domain, 




K 

5 S 



o ^. 



c - 




■>>^ 




138 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

with resources impossible to comprehend or calculate, does not occupy an un- 
favorable position on this globe of ours. The whole of England, Ireland, Scot- 
land, Belgium, Holland, and some of the most beautiful and fertile portions of 
sunny France, lie north of the extreme northern boundary of Montana. 

Montana's name indicates its prevailing chirographic character, and is 
simply a translation of the Indian name Taij-a-he- shock- up, or " Country of the 
Mountains." For convenience in description it is popularly divided into five 
large basins, four lying east of the Rocky Mountains and one to the westward. 
These basins are broken into large numbers of minor valleys separated and 
sheltered by spurs projecting from the main mountain ranges. Each may be 
said to have its own peculiar river system, as complete and grand as that of any 
first-class state. Though generally divided from each other by mountain ranges, 
they are easily accessible by good wagon roads over low passes. The entire 
region, a most harmonious blending of mountain and valley, lake and river, 
presents a physical grandeur and excellence scarcely equaled on the globe. 
Verily, as a resident expresses it, "Montana was molded in the heroic style of 
terrestrial architecture. Her cloud-piercing mountains, in which lie buried the 
wealth of nations; her unrivaled scenery, which can charm the painter's eye; 
her magnificent rivers, upon which can be borne the commerce of a world; her 
extensive plains, upon which may feed and fatten countless herds; her fertile 
valleys, that would yield wealth and happiness to thousands of homes; her mild 
and sdubrious climate — all go to prove this." 

Rioers and Vallei/s. — Montana undoubtedly presents the finest river system 
in America, and, therefore, in the world. Here, almost within stone's throw, 
are the founts of the two great rivers of our continent that finally flow into 
either ocean, the one, with its tributaries, possessing 3,000 miles of navigable 
waters within Montana's boundaries. Northward for 300 miles, and then east- 
ward, through peaceful valleys, the fairest of all Montana landscapes, through 
occasional mountain gorges, not sm-passed in grandeur in the world, now thun- 
dering over dizzy precipices and again almost losing its identity in unruffled lakes, 
pours the mighty Missouri. Eastward from the nation's wonderland and pleas- 
ure-ground, and across the southern portion of the Territory, claiming features 
none the less majestic, and even more picturesque than the first named, is the 
beautiful Yellowstone. Northward and southward from points not many miles 
distant, and wandering in diverse ways for a thousand miles, only to meet again 
near the western sea, flow the Hellgate and the Snake, the two great forks of the 
Columbia. Aside from the Missouri, Yellowstone and Upper Columbia — each 
possessing thrice the volume of the Ohio at Pittsburgh — are a dozen so large 
and beautiful that we pause and wonder whence they come, and tliat the world 
knows so little of their manifold attractions. Among these I may name the 
Jefferson, Gallatin, Madison, Musselshell, Bitter Root, Sun, Milk, Hellgate, 
Beaverhead and Flathead. Adding to these the almost numberless laterals 
which course and beautify every ravine and valley, we find here unlimited 
water-power and inexhaustible supplies of water for irrigation. These boun- 
teous waters, clear as crystal, and flowing over gravelly beds, are everywhere 
full of either mountain or salmon trout and other fish. 

The valleys drained and nourished by these mountain streams are wider, 
more extensive, and possess a lower average altitude — therefore a more genial 
climate — than any in the Rocky Mountain chain north of New Mexico, except- 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 139 

ing alone the valley of Great Salt Lake. They are unsurpassed for fertility, and 
are generally sheltered and rendered extremely picturesque by overlooking pine- 
covered mountain ranges. They are rarely more than a dozen miles wide, but it 
is estimated that if the arable lands of the principal ones alone were placed in a 
continuous body they would form a belt 4,000 miles long, averaging four miles in 
width — a belt of country unexcelled for fertility, which would stretch across 
our prairies, plains and mountains from Boston to San Francisco. Flanking 
these valleys, and often extending to the summits of adjacent mountains, are 
the almost illimitable natural pasture lands, producing thick cai-pets of grasses, 
which cure as they grow and in winter furnish food as nutritious as oats. The 
soils are largely the washes and wear of the great mountain i-anges. For ages 
the valleys and plains have been gathering their present accumulation of valuable 
decomposed and pulverized organic matter, which is so largely drawn upon by 
vegetable growth. Those qualities which eastern farmers try to replace by 
plaster of paris, bone-dust, ashes, lime, etc., exist in lasting quantities in these 
alkaline earths. This fact and the dry, pure atmosphere account for the great 
superiority in all elements of nutrition of far-western grasses, grains and veg- 
etable products over those of the states. 

Montana offers neither the illimitable and monotonous level prairies, which 
distinguish some Mississippi Valley states, the vast, impenetrable forests, which 
were encountered and struggled with for years away "down east," and in 
which a settler could hardly carve a home in one lifetime, or the marshy low- 
lands of the Lake region, whose enervating atmosphere needs no mention here; 
but a charming alternation of wooded mountain and arable valley, of rolling 
upland pasturage and well-drained meadow, characterize the topography of the 
Territory. 

Mountains and Forests. — One iifth of the area of the Territory, or about 
20,000,000 acres, is mountainous. While a few of the ranges are broken and 
grandly rugged, the majority consist of beautiful swells of no extreme height 
and presenting acclivities so gentle that natural roads run over them by easy 
grades at many points. Indeed, valley, bench and mountain often blend so 
evenly that it is difficult to tell just where the one ends and the other begins 
The mountains are jeweled at all altitudes with copious springs, " as clear and 
cold as crystal ice." Even the passes over the highest ranges in Montana us- 
ually have an altitude of only about 6,000 feet above sea level — no greater than 
the elevation of the plains at Cheyenne, Wyoming, and less than 1,000 feet 
greater than Denver, Colorado, a city surrounded by highly productive farms. 
Nearly all the arable Montana valleys average from 500 to 2,000 feet lower than 
the most fertile ones of Colorado or Utah. Montana's highest peak would 
hardly reach timber-line in Colorado, and her average mountains only reach 
heights which in the C^'ntennial State are made to bloom and blossom as the 
rose. It is a land of gentle acclivities, over which you often pass without 
knowing when you are upon the summit. These gradual slopes and moderate 
altitudes greatly facilitate travel, development and commerce. Nearly all of 
the richest mmes are easily approached by natural and ungraded roadways — 
an advantage found in few other mining regions in the world. Further, a con- 
sultation of the valuable tables compiled by Prof. Gannett, of the Hayden sur- 
vey, discloses the fact that 51,000 square miles of Montana's area is less than 4,000 
feet above the sea, while only 9,000 square miles of Colorado's area, and none of 



140 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

"Utah's, is ivt a less altitude than 4,000 feet. Montana also possesses valley and 
bench lands covering an area of 40,700 square miles at a less altitude than 3,000 
feet, while neither Colorado, New Mexico, Utah or Wyoming contain an acre 
of surface as low as 3,000 feet. Carrying this still further, we find that these 
official reports make the mean or average height of Montana above the sea 
3,900 feet; that of Nevada, 5,600; of New Mexico, 5,660; of Wyoming, 6,400, 
and of Colorado, 7,000 feet — Montana possessing an average altitude above 
the sea of 2,260 feet less than the general average of those rich and thriving 
commonwealths. These comparisons are worthy of study in connection with 
the climatic features of Montana, for it is patent that if its mountain ranges 
possess an altitude no greater than that of arable valleys in other Rocky Mount- 
ain regions, its climate in valley and mountain must be less rigorous than that 
of localities even further south. The main range of the Rockies, the Bitter 
Root and Coeur D'Alene, in the western portion of the Territory, and the Belt, 
Highwood, Snow, Judith, Tobacco Root and Bridger ranges, in the southern 
and central portions — nearly all extending in a general north and south direc- 
tion — are Montana's principal " water-sheds." 

About 13,000,000 acres of this mountain-land are covered with heavy forests, 
while probably the fringes of soft-wood timber skirting all of the streams — 
which here are never thought of as forests — would aggregate 1,000,000 acres 
additional of timber land. In the western portion of the Territory thousands of 
square miles of the I'oughest mountain countiy are covered with a heavy even 
growth of pine, spruce, cedar and tamarac, while in the central and eastern 
sections, where the mountains are less rugged, these same varieties lend great 
beauty to the landscape by occurring in lesser breadths — often reminding us of 
groves set on grassy slopes by human hands. By a wise disposition in this 
matter, the heavier forests almost invariably occur on the finest mineral lands, 
where most needed. The lower country, exceptionally good for grazing and 
farming, though not always adjacent to timber, is close enough for practical 
needs. 

Lumbermen recognize in these forests three distinct varieties of pine, these 
being familiarly known as "yellow," "black," and "bull." In the lower val- 
leys, often many miles distant from other forests, are the fringes of Cottonwood, 
water ash, willow and box elder, all growing large enough to answer for the 
unpretentious homes of the farmers and stock men, or for fuel. In the north- 
western coi'ner of the Territory we encountered a species of mountain mahogany 
which grows to a diameter from six to ten inches, and seems as fine-grained 
and heavy as the beautiful Honduras mahogany. To the best of my remem- 
brance the tamarac of New York and other Eastern States grows only in the 
lowlands and swamps, while here it is found high up in the loftiest mountains. 
The yellow pine, which is most commonly used here, takes a handsome finish, 
possesses much strength, and is so hard and pitchy that ordinary wear and 
weather have little effect upon it. It is the general utility lumber par excellence, 
and Montanians carve it into almost anything, from a stool to their most elab- 
orate residences. Black pine and bull pme are more knotty, and are used for 
rough work of all kinds. Spruce is extensively used for scantlings and joists, 
and here approaches the oak for toughness and elasticity. 

While Montana can offer no such prodigious wonders of the forest as Cali- 
fornia or other Pacific Coast sections, she boasts the most extensive forests of 



MONTANA TEERITORY. 141 

moderately large trees I have ever seen. In Missoula county you can ride for 
days at a time through yellow pine timber, in which trees stand within four or 
five feet of each other, many towering up seventy-five feet to the first limb, and 
being from three to five feet in diameter. The banner lumber district is along 
Hell Gate River, in the county named. Pine and cedar trees, six feet in diam- 
eter at the base and three hundred feet high, are not at all rare in that locality, 
and the spruce grows proportionately large. 

There are now forty-two sawmills in Montana, turning out some 6,000,000 
feet of lumber annually. The market for lumber, heretofore confined almost 
wholly to the mining camps and cities, with the mining interest sadly depressed 
for a series of years, these figures are hardly an indication of what lumbering in 
this rich northland will be in the near future. Immense quartz mining enter- 
prises are beginning to consume heavy lumber with great rapidity, while the 
cities which are being fostered by their lavish yields of gold and silver are also 
consuming different grades as never before. 

Three or four of the most prominent towns of Montana have extensive 
planing mills, sash and blind factories, etc. Helena has three or four such 
establishments, which turn out every species of plain and ornamental wood- 
work needed in building the most elegant residences. One firm, besides their 
extensive factories at Helena, have four sawmills within eighteen miles of 
the city. Their sawmills cut nearly 30,000 feet of lumber daily. A portion of 
their product is rapidly turned into dressed lumber, sash, doors, blinds, office 
furniture, concentrating machines, fanning mills, etc. There is also a factory 
which turns out some very pretty designs of furniture from native -pine and 
cedar. A church of Virginia City is furnished with home-made cedar furniture, 
which is as handsome as worshipers could wish. 

Average retail prices for lumber in the different Montana cities are about Us 
follows: Rough lumber, $20 to $25 per 1,000 feet; dressed and matched floor- 
ing, $40 to $45; dressed finishing lumber, $40; lath, $7 per 1,000 feet; shmgles, 
$4.50; good four-panel doors, from $3.50 to $5 each, accordmg to size and 
finish; common sash, glazed and primed, $3 to $4.50 each; blinds, $3 to $4.50, 
Wholesale prices are from eight to ten per cent less. In some localities, notably 
in Missoula county, the chopping and hauling of logs is done by contract. 
There the choppers receive $1 per 1,000 feet for felling the trees and cutting 
them into suitable lengths, realizing about $3 per day for their work. Then 
haulers deliver the logs at the mills at an average of $3 per 1,000 feet. Saw- 
yers are paid $50 per month and board. Near Helena all work in the timber 
or at the mills is paid for by the day or month. Choppers get $50 per month 
and board; firemen and yardmen, $60 and board; sawyers, $125 and board; 
rough hands, never less than $50 and board. At the planing mills, journeymen 
get $4 per day, and the foreman $5 per day. 

THE MONTANA CLIMATE. 

It is a very popular, though entirely mistaken notion, that the farther north 
we go the colder it grows. The altitude, the character of the surface, prevailing 
winds, nature of the soil, and many other conditions, give us entirely different 
climates on the same lines of latitude. I would like to devote many pages to 
the consideration of this one subject, for to homeseekers everywhere the climate 
of any of these northwest territories is the one great, inconceivable bugbear. 



142 



TO THE ROCKIES AKD BEYOXD. 



But I must be content with calling attention to the facts as they exist, without 
attempting to more than allude to the " whys and wherefores " of their existence. 
Observations and tests, followed through a long series of years, prove that the 
western coasts of the continent in the northern hemisphere are far warmer than 
the eastern. This is directly traceable to the influence of the atmospheric cur- 
rents and the thermal currents of the great oceans in distributing the heat of the 
tropics to these shores. That great river of warmth, the equatorial or Japan 
current, kindly pours the full force of its heated breath against the low coast- 
line of Washington and Oregon, and inland over plains and mountain tops, 
even east of Montana's eastern border. Tracing the isothermal line of 50' 
Fahr. half way round the universe, we find it passes through the great wheat 
growing districts of southern Russia, through the beautiful vinelands of south- 
ern France, and on westward through Harrisburg, Cleveland and Chicago in 
our own country ; but, presto ! our hot air currents from the western ocean are 
too wa.rm for it in Montana, and it describes a far northern circle, taking in vast 
tracts of all-the-year pasturage in the British possessions. 

Deer Lodge, Montana, possibly, will not be thought so far "out of the 
world " when readers stop to think that it is on the same parallel of latitude as 
beautiful Venice; or Montana's northern boundary be deemed so hopelessly near 
arctic seas, when they consider that it has the same latitude as Paris, where all 
the fruits and cereals of the middle temperate zones of the earth reach their 
greatest perfection. In writing of the Montana climate I of course refer to 
that offered by the inhabitable and settled valleys. In the mountains winter 
does ofteji pinch very hard and snow falls to great depths — but of course such 
regions are only utilized for their mines and forests — and even then are no worse 
than the forests of Maine and Michigan. It is the glorious and almost continu- 
ous sunshine, however, which shall always be recognized as the greatest charm 
of the Montana climate. Records before us prove that in recent years there 
have been 254 days of perfect sunshine at Helena, while Boston averages only 
191, and Buffalo and Chicago about 170 /«/r days. Following is an extract from 
the meteorological register at Fort Benton, Montana, bearing upon this point 
particularly, and also giving the mean temperature of spring, summer, autumn 
and winter for six consecutive years. This shows an average of 291 fair days 
each year — 100 more than Boston boasts. Fort Benton, it should be remem- 
bered is in the extreme northern part of the Territory : 

METEOROLOGICAL REPORT, PORT BENTON. 



No. of fair days. . . 
No. of cloudy days 
Mean temperature- 
Spring 

Summer 

Autumn 

Winter 



Average monthly fall of 
rain or melted snow . 



1872 


1873 


1874 


1875 


1 
1870 


305 
60 


291 

74 


277 
88 


289 
70 


280 
79 


11° 
48° 
01° 
29° 


25° 

52° 
63° 

28" 


13° 
56° 
08° 
33° 


17° 
55° 
06° 
30° 


14° 
51° 

or 

30° 


Inches. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


luchcf. 


Inches. 


1.5 


1.G6 


1.98 


1.82 


1.72 



1877 

300 
65 

24° 
50° 

58° 
32° 

Inches. 

1.06 



144 TO THE KOCltlES AKD BEYOND. 

As valuable as any reports which could possibly be offered are the notes kindly 
furnished us by Granville Stuart, Esq., one of the veiy earliest of the Montana 
pioneers. Mr. Stuart's personal observations extend from 1857 to 1871, and 
therefore supply a faithful record during a period not covered, I believe, by 
any other authority. The notes were principally made in Deer Lodge valley, 
which is much higher in altitude and considerably colder than the majority of 
the settlements. Could Mr. Stuart's notes have been made in either of the 
Missoula, Yellowstone or Missouri valleys, the showing would have been far 
more favorable for Montana. 

The winter of 1857-S was very mild. Snow did not lie longer than a few days in any of 
the principal valloys. Cold not intense, except a few days in December and January. Cattle 
and horses in open air, without shelter or food except such as they got on the prairie, gained 
steadily all winter, and came out fat in the spring. 

The winters of 1858-9 and 1859-60 were very similar, averaging probably a little colder and 
with a little more snow, but quite pleasant in the main. 

The winter of 1860-1 was a little colder, but would not have been called a bad one in 
Illinois or Iowa. 

The winter of 1861-2 was one of unusual severity, snow falling in different valleys to a 
depih of from six inches to two feet. 

The winter of 18C2-3 was quite as mild as that of 1857-8. The thermometer at Deer Lodge 
fell no lower than 12° below zero. 

The winter of 1863-4 was but little inferior to that preceding, snow lying but a few days 
at a time in the valleys. A severe snowstorm occurred January 7, after which mercury fell to 
—33°, but the cold snap only lasted a week. 

The winter of 1864-5 showed an increased degree of cold. Mercury fell as low as —34° in 
December and January; but snow was not bad until March, when mercury also again fell as 
low as —27° Stock did well enough without any feed during this winter. 

The last half of the winter of 1865-6 was quite severe, mercury sinking to —34°, with 
violent snow and wind storms; but no stock died, although none were fed. 

The winter of 1866-7 was very mild up to December 24, with no snow. From then on till 
April it was the worst winter known in Montana. However, scarcely any cattle died, 
although but few were fed and none sheltered. Coldest day, —32°. 

The winter of 1867-8 was comparatively mild; coldest day, —30°. No suffering among 
stock. Grass was plenty, and was never covered with snow. No sleighing at Deer Lodge 
at any time. Valleys dry and dusty. The snowfall during this winter, not including that 
which melted as 4t fell, was 20J4 inches; greatest depth at any one time, 2;4 inches. 

The winter of 1868-9 was almost no winter at all. No snow of consequence; not enough 
for sleighing at Deer Lodge. Stock all fat in spring, and were not fed or housed. Nearly all 
the hay cut for the last two years was kept over, it not being necessary to use it. Total snow- 
fall, 16% inches; greatest depth at any one time, 2 inches. 

The winter of 1869-70 quite mild; not enough snow for sleighing at any one time, and that 
little lasting only a few days. Total snowfall, 29 inches. 

The winter of 1870-71 was also very mild and open. Scarcely any snow, and stock kept 
in good condition on the range. Greatest depth of snow at any one time, 3 inches. 

The winter of 1871-2 was a very severe one, but not commencing until the 23d of Novem- 
ber. The greatest depth of snow at one time in Deer Lodge valley was 12 inches. There was 
but little suffering among stock, except among herds of Texas cattle which had been driven 
in during the fall, and were thin in flesh, and unaccustomed to the climate. Not more than 
two per cent of all stock in the Territory were lost. 

Mr. Stuai't discovers throughout his twenty years of experience in the north- 
west that the hard winters seem to come exactly five years apart, and ventures 
the suggestion that it would undoubtedly be a wise and humane move upon the 
part of stockmen to make a little provision for these exceptional seasons. Note 
the following table of mean temperature for the months of December, January, 
February and March, and snowfall for each month, the observations having 
been made at Deer Lodge, and covering a period of eight years : 



MONTANA TEKRITOKY. 



145 





December. 


January. 


February. 


March. 


1- 


« _: 


1- 




m„„„ i Snow- 
Temp.| j^u 


Temp. 


Snow- 
fall. 


Temp. 


Snow- 1 m„™„ 
fall. T'^'^P- 


Snow- 
fall. 


4) ST 

0^ 


1867-8 

1868-9 

1869-70 

1870-71 

1871-2.. .. 

1872-3 

1873-4 

1877-8 


24° 
26°. 7 
24°. 1 
19°. 2 
16° 
17°. 3 
12°. 3 
30° 


in. 

8 

7'4 

16 '/2 

none 


1'.,° 
20°. 4 
22° 
30^ 
15°. 7 
21°. 4 
2.j° 
29° 


m. 

4'.t 
314 
4 

5)3- 
11 
6% 
8 3-5 


25° 
24°. 6 
29° . 4 
23°. 5 
30° 
16°. 5 
2i° 
37°. 7 


in. 

7 '-2 
8M 
25i£ 


3.5°. 5 
^9° 
26° 5 
32°. 5 
34°. 8 
29° 3 
26°. 6 
45° .3 


in. 
2% 

2 '.4 

10 1-5 
12K 
11 

15ii 

11 3-5 


20° 7 

25° 5 
25°. 5 
26° . 3 
24°. 1 
21°. 1 
21°. 5 
35°. 5 


in. 

1414 
173€ 
29 
31 

33 
26>^ 

41/2 


in. 
3 
2 

4 
3 
12 

16 

1 


Means for l_ 
8 years. )" 


21°. 2 


7J£ 


20°. 3 


S'i' 26° 


44 


32°. 5 ' 6J£ 


£5° 


24.'^ 





Note. — Observation not made during winters of 1874-5, 1875-6 and 1870-7. 

Deer Lodge, as already noted, will average a few degrees colder than most 
of the other principal valleys of Montana, and yet, as shown in this table, its 
climate is really excellent, the average snov/fall of the four months for eight 
years being only 24)^ inches, and in only two years did it exceed four inches in 
depth at any one time. The table gives the average temperature of both day 
and night, and of course the temperature for daytime only would be very much 
higher. A series of observations prove that Missoula, Montana, enjoys an aver- 
age temperature of over 5° higher than Deer Lodge, where the above observa- 
tions were taken. This is also about the same mean for the large valleys of Sun 
River, Missouri, Gallatin, Jefferson, Madison, Ruby and Beaverhead. The 
greater portion of inhabited Montana has an annual mean temperature of 48°. 

The report of the observer at the United States signal service station, Virginia 
City, Montana, furnishes some interesting facts concerning the climate, and very 
favorably exhibits its salubrity and general healthfulness. The altitude of Virginia 
is 5,713 feet and its climate correspondingly rigorous, when compared with the 
fertile valleys lying nearly 3,000 feet below. The yearly statement shows that 
since the establishment of the station in 1872 the mean temperature has varied 
but little in any year, the highest being 40.8 degrees, and the lowest 39.4 degrees. 
That Virginia is not subjected to excessive summer heats is established by the 
fact that the highest temperature recorded in the six years covered by the report 
was 94 degrees. The mildness of the winters in Montana is shown by the state- 
ment that, with but one exception, in January, 1875, when the temperature 
reached 44 degrees below zero, the lowest temperature recorded in six years was 
19 degrees below zero. Another, and to agriculturists a most important item, 
is the statement showing the amount of the rainfall — the greatest being in 
1877 (17.47 inches), and the least for a whole year — the report for 1872 being for 
only a portion of the year — in 1874 (16.32 inches), showing an equality in the 
annual distribution of rain and snow that is veiy remarkable. 

YIKGINIA CITY REPORT. 





Mean Temp. 


Max. Temp. 


Min. Temp. 


Total Rainfall. 


1872 


40.5° 






12.00 in. 


1874 


40.8° 


90° 


—18° 


16.33 


1875 


39.4° 


88' 


—44° 


16.48 


1876 


40.7° 


92° 


—19° 


17.00 


1877 


40.5° 


94° 


—16° 


17.47 


1878 


43.5° 


93' 


—15° 


19.06 


NOTE- 


— Returns for 1872 are incomplete. 







146 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

A few comparisons may not be amiss. To residents of states I shall 
name they will prove that Montana not only offers more sunshine and with its 
moderately rigorous winters a far more healthful, invigorating atmosphere than 
any section east of the Missouri can boast. The average temperature of Helena, 
Montana — which is 1,000 feet higher and consequently colder than many of the 
best valleys — in 1866 was 44.5°. The average of six stations in Minnesota for 
the same time, 41.6°. The amount of rain and melted snow at Helena were 23.36 
inches; at six stations in Minnesota, 27.89°. The average of winter months in 
Helena, in 1867 was 23.70°. In Minnesota, 21.3°. 

The mean of Maine and New Hampshire for a period of six years from 1866 to 
1872 was 43.7°, and that of Vermont for same time, 43.2°, while that of all oi 
our principal valleys as before stated is 48°, being more than four degrees 
warmer than those old and wealthy states. The mean annual temperature of Wis- 
consin for five years from 1866 to 1871 was 44.8°; that of Michigan for the same 
time was 45.8°; of Iowa, 46.4°; of Massachusetts and New York, 47.3°; of Con- 
necticut, 47.6°; of Nebraska, 48.6°; of Illinois, 49.9°; of Ohio, 51.2°. This shows 
that the climate of Montana is warmer than that of the first six of those rich and 
powerful states, and that it is but little colder than Nebraska, Illinois and Ohio. 
Then it should be remembered that the dryness of atmosphere makes several more 
degrees in favor of Montana's climate as against the damp, raw temperatures of 
some of the states named. These figures, correct and reliable, prove that the 
climate of Montana presents no obstacles to her rapid advancement. The Mis- 
souri river is thoroughly open near Helena a month earlier each spring than at 
Omaha, 500 miles farther south, with almost unfailing regularity. 

A brief rainy season, sometimes almost doing away with the necessity for 
irrigation, usually occurs in June. The amount of moisture falling annually in 
Montana is about three-fourths that which descends in Minnesota or one-half the 
amount which descends in the region bordering the great lakes. A feature 
peculiar to Montana and other northwestern territories is the "chinook." 
During my recent winter's stay at Helena I made the acquaintance of this 
somewhat remarkable visitor, and must say, in common with residents, that it 
was a case of "love at first sight." On two occasions, when the snow was lying 
unusually deep on mountain and in valley, a strong blast — but one so balmy that 
it was a luxury to breathe — greeted us in the morning, and by nightfall almost 
every atom of snow in the valley was on the way to distant oceans. These warm 
winds seem to come direct from the heated currents of the Pacific, and thus the 
" Chinook," so regularly on hand when most wanted, turns winter into summer 
at a moment's notice. Malaria and epidemics are unknown, and destructive 
storms very rare in Montana. Summer nights are delightfully cool, and indeed 
every breath of the pure mountain air, winter or summer, perfumed with the 
odor of pine and spruce, is a conscious inhalation of new life and strength. 
There is, then, nothing in the Montana climate to deter any intelligent home- 
seeker north of the Mason and Dixon line from making himself even more com- 
fortable the year round than has been his wont in the east. Surely, if other 
proof could be asked, it should suffice that over half a million cattle, horses and 
sheep roam winter and summer in their fatness on Montana's hills, unsheltered 
and unfed, save as they feed and shelter themselves on their more than ample 
pasturage. 



MONTANA TERitlTORY. 1^7 



AGitlCULTURE. 



Blessed with an excellent climate, presenting the finest valley system to be 
found in the entire Rocky Mountain plateau, and possessing a soil singularly 
fertile and lasting, Montana offers unexceptionable inducements to the agri- 
culturist. Alter what has been said about the climate it will be understood that 
irrigation is necessary in most of the valleys — and here is another fancied bug- 
bear. Many homes can yet be found where the owner can hiive his own clear 
mountain stream rippling by his door and irrigate his land by turning a few 
furrows with the plow. But even where it requires some capital or association 
of labor to lead large ditches or canals from the rivers to the desert lands, irri- 
gation IS a ridiculously small drain of labor or means when compared to the 
average losses annually sustained in "rainy states" through flood or drouth. 
By irrigation tiie Montana farmer insures his crop, and as it is estimated that 
the average expense of irrigating Montana farms is not over 50 cents per acre 
per annum, we would call it very cheap insurance. At the worst the cost of 
such improvements and of bringing the land into cultivation is much less than 
is generally required to improve and cultivate land in a timbered country, and 
ditches once made are always afterward ready for use; they also afford convenient 
water-power, in many places, for any purpose that a farm or dairy may require. 
I remember noticing on a Madison county, Montana, farm an inexpensive 
power of this kind almost at the door, which was utilized for churning butter, 
sawing wood, boring and mortising lumber, turning the grindstone, fanning- 
mill, etc.; arid indeed these conveniences were noticed on many farms in the 
Territory. It is found, by experience, that irrigation not only keeps the land up 
to its original fertility, but constantly improves it in quality, though the same 
crop may be raised years in succession. Stewart, in his valuable work on irriga- 
tion, says: " Water, when used in irrigation, brings within reach of the plants 
a largely increased amount of nutriment. Water is the universal solvent. No 
water in its natural condition is pure. The water of springs and streams 
holds in solution or suspension a quantity of mineral and gaseous matter, that 
possesses high fertilizing value." Irrigation has been used on the same soil 
two hundred years in New Mexico, without other fertilizing properties than 
those brought by the water. The farmer is also free from any solicitude 
in regard to drouths or floods or storms; the progress of his crop is uniform 
from seeding time until harvest; if he is inclined to "much water " he can use it 
at his pleasure; if he thinks a light " sprinkling " will do, the facilities are at 
hand. By irrigation pastures are kept green in the late summer and fall, as 
well as in the spring ; and trees obtain a longer and larger growth in one 
season, than by any unaided process of nature. It is thought that the superior 
quality of the fruit and vegetables grown in Rocky Mountain valleys is as much 
attributable to irrigation as to the climate. 

Of the 93,000,000 acres of land in the Territory, 16,000,000 are suitable for 
cultivation. An ex-surveyor general of the Territory estimates that there is in 
the more prominent valleys alone, room for 3G,000 first-class farms of 160 acres 
each, while another is of the opinion that there is a strictly agricultural domain 
here greater in extent than the entire area of Dhio. In few of the valleys is 
there more than one-fourth of the arable land claimed, while in many one-tenth 
would be a nearer estimate. About 275,000 acres are accounted for on the tax 



148 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

lists. The extreme productiveness of the black loamy soil is beyond all ques- 
tion — an average crop of almost any of the cereals or vegetables on old or new- 
lands, unfertilized, being about 75 per cent larger than on the best bottom lands 
in any state east of the Missouri. Irrigation, as already noted, has generally 
been considered a necessity, although I know of localities in Montana in which 
from 25 to 40 bushels of wheat to the acre were produced without it the past sea- 
son. Thousands of acres of the richest and warmest soils — those found high 
up on bluff and mountain sides — were in 1877 sown with fall wheat, and the 
harvest last year of this grain, produced without irrigation, was so bountiful 
that many farmers who have hitherto raised spring wheat exclusively in the 
valleys, are now resorting to the hitherto despised high lands. Snows fall deeper 
on these altitudes than in the valleys, and keep the grain well covered during 
much of the winter. It should be stated here that agricultural lands in Mon- 
tana are of three distinct classes : first, the bottom or meadow lands, usually 
possessing a rich black and somewhat heavy soil, lying next to the stream, 
always easily irrigated, and on that account generally taken by the first settlers; 
second, the bench-lands, rising teri-ace-like toward the neighboring mountains, 
possessing, as soil, a warm sandy loam, always easily drained, usually present- 
ing no great obstacles to irrigation, and now being generally recognized as the 
land capable of the widest range of production, and being the least subject to 
frosts; and third, the high bluff lands already noted. 

The virgin soil of the bench-lands is so mellow and easily broken up that we 
often see scraggy little mustangs, weighing from 700 to 800 pounds, pulling the 
plow as easily as they would in many long cultivated fields in the east; the 
strongly rooted stubborn turf, which at first always opposes itself in the east, ia 
here seldom if ever encountei-ed. Plowing for spring wheat commences in Feb- 
ruary, and the wheat is often sown during the same month. Montana wheat, 
by a recent comparative analysis at St. Louis, takes precedence of Minnesota 
spring or western winter grades. Oats are frequently raised weighing 44 pounds 
to the measured bushel. Exceptional yields of grain and vegetables are chron- 
icled which, to the farmer on artificially fertilized soils in the east, would seem 
simply impossible. At the first territorial fair held in 1869, Col. Forbis, of the 
Montana legislature, took the first premium on a field of 20 acres of wheat 
which yielded 83 bushels and 37 pounds per acre. At a succeeding territorial 
fair held at Helena City, Mr. J. L. Ray, of Lewis and Clarke county, was 
awarded the first premium for the best crop of wheat, his average from a num- 
ber of acres being 103 bushels per acre. Messrs. Forbis & Burton were awarded 
first premiums for the best barley, 113)^ bushels per acre; best oats, 101 bush- 
els per acre; best potatoes, 613 bushels per acre. The best single acre in wheat 
produced 113 bushels. The figures were sworn to by disinterested parties, as 
required by the agricultural society, and the appearance of sheaves on exhibi- 
tion would warrant the yield claimed. The average yield of wheat is placed at 
30 bushels per acre, twice as large as that of the great wheat state of Minnesota, 
and nearly three times as large as that of Ohio. Corn in the higher valleys is 
not always a success, the cool nights probably being the greatest drawback; but 
in such valleys as the Yellowstone, Bitter Root and Missouri, it was quite suc- 
cessfully cultivated in 1878. Specimens at the last territorial fair were unusu- 
ally large-eared, and were from fields which yielded from 30 to 50 bushels per 
acre. All garden roots grow enormously large, and peas, beans, cabbage, cu- 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 



149 



cumbers, etc , attain great size and are of excellent qnality. Irish potatoes 
weighing from 2 to 4 pounds each, rutabagas from 15 to 20 pounds, and turnips 
30 pounds each, were among the exhibits of Gallatin, Bitter Root, and other 
valleys, the past season. Besides these hardy cereals and vegetables produced 
in all the inhabited valleys, we find some farms in the Bitter Root and other 
sunny basins where large and small fruits, tomatoes, melons, and even tobacco, 
egg-plant and peanuts are among productions which indicate a not very forbid- 
ding clime. 

Lest readers may not at first glance realize the difference in favor of Mon- 
tana in yields and prices, I append a com^^arison of average yields of cereals 
and vegetables here and in the east. I select the great agricultural state of 
Ohio as the victim of this comparison, taking her average yields for three years 
and giving those of Montana as estimated by some of the most careful and reli- 
able farmers of the Territoiy : 



Kind of Produce. 



Bacon, per pound 

Barley, " 

Butter, " 

Beets, " 

Beans, " 

Cabbage, " 

Carrots, " 

CauUflower" 

Corn, " 

Cheese, " . . . . 

Chickens, per dozen .... 
Eggs, 

Flour, per cwt 

Green Corn, per dozen- 
Hay, per ton. .:.;..... 

Hogs, per cwt 

Oats, per pound 

Onions, " 

Parsnips," 

Potatoes," 

Peas, " 

Rye, " 

Squash, " 

Turkeys, live, per pound 
Turnips, per pound. . . . 
Wheat, 







-^ 






tc 










c 


(D 


^ 


^ 




•S 


c 


S'i 


a; 






o 





-S P- 








Ph 


0. 


^ 


5c 


15c 




114^- 


2c 


19 bu 


16c 


40c 




y9s 


4c 




2c 


5c 


24 bu 


ii.- 


3c 




Ic 


4c 




b' 


4c 




%■ 


5c 


34 bu 


8 


17r 




2 00 


G 00 




18 


50r 




3 00 


1: 00 




5 


25c 




8 00 


12 00 


1)4: ton 


2 7.) 


10 00 




%^ 


2c 


28 bu 


Ic 


6c 


208 bu 


Ke 


4c 




Ic 


U^c 


75 bn 


1^<- 


2c 


25 bn 


4c 


2c 


12 bu 


i/<e 


4c 




7.- 


20c 




14c 


l^c 


150 bn 


li^c 


2c 


11 bu 






35 bu 



37 bu 
6565 lbs 



37 bu 



13^ ton 

45 bu 
385 bu 

200 bu 

40 bn 

35 l.u 

19,000 lbs 

225 bu 
30 bu 



This showing can 
be made in Mon- 
tana on a farm 
that costs practically 
nothing hut the la- 
bor of its oivner in 
improving it — in 
the east, from land 
that costs $40 to 
$75 per acre. In 
Montana, sheep or 
cattle are matured 
at a total cost of 
from $1 to $3 per 
head, feed and shel- 
ter costing nothing, 
— in the east, feed, 
shelter and atten- 
tion consume from 
one-half to three- 
fourths of the sell- 
ing price of every 
animal. 



In 1878 the different valleys of Montana, with their mere sprinkHng of farm- 
ers, produced about 400,000 bushels of wheat, 600,000 of oats, 50,000 of barley, 
12,000 of corn, 500,000 bushels of vegetables, and 65,000 tons of hay, the total 
value of agricultural products being not less than $3,000,000. A ready market 



150 



TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 



has always been afforded by the non-producing population in the mines and 
cities, and by the numerous military posts. The constant increase in the mag- 
nitude of mining and other operations in all parts of the Territory justifies the 
belief that any considerable surplus of produce cannot be raised in Montana for 
years to come, and until thu,b time prices must remain from 50 to 100 per cent 
higher than in the "States." The following were ruling prices paid farmers 
for produce in different Montana cities in January, 1879: Flour, $4.75 per 
100 pounds; oats, 2 cents per pound; wheat, 2 cents; hay, $12 to $14 per 
ton; potatoes, 1}4 cents per pound; onions, 6 cents; butter, 45 cents; eggs, 
60 to 75 cents per dozen; squash, 4 cents per pound; cheese, 16 to 20 cents; 
beets, 4 cents; cabbage, 5 cents; carrots, S}4 cents; parsnips, 4 cents; turkeys, 
$3 to $5 each; spring chickens, $6 to $7.50 per dozen. 

I firmly believe that no land under the sun offers such a favorable field 
for diversified rural industry as Montana. Take here, in connection with grain- 
raising, the production of poultry, eggs, butter, pork, vegetables, and similar 
items now almost unnoticed as ' ' not worth bothering about, ' ' and the industrious 
and frugal farmer and housewife, managing as of necessity do those in the 
thickly settled states, should soon make themselves independent. It is often 
almost impossible in winter to secure fresh eggs at 75 cents per dozen in Mon- 
tana cities, and during the past winter I have seen 90 cents freely offered at 
Helena. Butter ranged from 40 to 60 cents the entire winter, and it was frequently 
impossible to secure a good article. The Montanian who desires to celebrate 
Christmas in the time-honored way — turkey and all — will make a sad inroad on 
his bank account; as for spring chickens— at from 50 cents to $1 each they 
might be of recent origin, but unfortunately that class is never numerous enough 
to "go 'round." There seems to be nothing in the climate to prevent this 
industry, but the greater cares incident to the production of grain and live stock 
seem to have thus far nearly monopolized the attention of settlers. 

The following consolidated report of vegetables raised in Company gardens 
at Fort Ellis, Gallatin county, during the season of 1873, will convey an idea of 
the profits of market gaidening in the northland. It is worthy of careful study, 
especially by those who are familiar with the yields of artificially fertihzed soils 
in the East: 



Company 

and 
Regiment. 


No. of Acres. 


CO . 

o 
"o 


.2 
'3 
o 


CO 

_p- 
'c 

■f-> 

a 
H 


CO 




_p- 
'S 

Ph 


Cabbage. 




Bu. 


Bu. 


Bu. 


Bu. 


Bu. 


Bu. 


Heads. 


F, 2d Cavalry 

G, " 

H, " 

L, " 

G, 7th Infantry . . . 


73^ 

5 

G 

5 

3 


1100 
550 

1200 
700 
315 


90 

60 

130 

50 

6 


500 
60 
35 

150 
40 


60 
35 
40 
25 
12 


50 
15 
40 


10 
20 
25 


3610 
2500 
3300 
2300 




20 


800 


Total 


26% 


3865 


336 


785 


172 


105 


75 


12500 







General Brisbin states that the value of the several articles, if they had to ])e 
bought in Montana, would be about as follows: Potatoes, $3,865; onions, $2,352; 



153 TO THE ROCKIES AKD BEYOi^D. 

turnips, $85; carrots, $206.40; beets, $315; parsnips, $235; salsify, $9.40; cab- 
bage, $125; total, $7,182.80, from a 26-acre field. Rutabagas raised the past 
season weighed as high as 173^ pounds each, without the tops. One potato 
weighed 4 pounds, another 3 pounds 4 ounces. All products were pronounced 
by General Brisbin among the best for size and flavor he hud ever seen. The 
soldiei-s produce all the vegetables they need, with a surplus for sale, and live 
better than at any post in the country. The soil is a rich black loam, and has 
needed very little irrigation. 

Fruit Growing in Montana. — Few regions in the Rocky Mountains can boast 
of a greater variety or a finer growth of wild fruits than Montana. Three 
varieties of whortleberries, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, service- 
berries, Oregon grapes, choke-cherries, buffalo-berries, and in some localities 
plums, are prominent kinds which almost unfailingly yield well. In most 
localities east of the Rockies where the soil and climatic conditions are favorable 
to the growth of such an array of wild fruits, it is a foregone conclusion that 
certain tame varieties will flourish. However, in no new country is any 
interest so slowly taken hold of as fruit-growing. Montana is only an average 
example of this. But I am gratified to state that I have visited several Montana 
orchards in which were the unmistakable golden, luscious proofs that the new 
era is dawning. 

Far up in the northwestern corner of the Territory — yes, north of the forty- 
sixth parallel ! — in Bitter Root Valley, we came upon the splendid grain and 
fruit farm of Hon. E. W. Bass. In this short article, much as I wish, I can 
say nothing of the beautiful stretches of meadow, of the broad fields of ripened 
grain — for it was in early autumn — or of the hundred attractions surrounding 
the elegant country home, but at the outset can state the very interesting fact 
that I plucked some of the largest and most delicious apples, plums, grapes 
and Siberian crabs I have ever seen. Mr. Bass has 3,000 apple trees from two 
to six years old, of which number 1,000 are flourishing in the orchards. Five or 
six five-year-old trees bore quite freely, and 500 have reached bearing age. The 
Rambo, Willow-twig and the Red Astrachan seem to be the favorites thus far, 
although 50 different varieties are ready to bear. Grafts made a growth of 
five feet during the past season. About twenty transcendent crab trees were 
loaded with ripe fruit during our visit — some so full that props were necessary 
to keep their branches from breaking. Over 200 pounds of fruit had been sold 
from one of these during the season at 15 cents a pound, or a total of thirty dol- 
lars for one years crop of a single tree. Of 25 fine pear trees several Bartletts 
bore last year. A nice little orchard of tame plums near by was a feast for eyes, 
and a disturber of gastric j uices at the same time. Among these trees were some 
fairly twisted and groaning under the weight of the fast-ripening fruit. The 
greengage plum succeeds admirably here. A trellis of Concord grapes, with 
here and there its beautiful fruitage, was not lacking. Mr. Bass grows all the 
small fruits. Of these over 1,000 boxes of strawberries, and 500 gallons of cur- 
rants, gooseberries, raspberries, etc., were marketed during the season at prices 
ranging from 40 cents to $1 per gallon. 

On the opposite side of the valley, some six miles distant, Messrs. T. W. and 
Benjamin Harris, who have farms adjoining each other, have 75 bearing apple 
trees, gardens of gooseberries, blackberries, strawberries, currants, etc., from 
which they marketed a nice lot of fruit last season. They had some forty bush- 



MONTANA TEKKITORY. , 153 

els of apples, principally of the Early Harvest and Newton Yellow Pippin. 
They also had greengage and Chickasaw plum trees so full of fruit that the 
longer branches were bent to the earth. 

Again, at Missoula, some twenty-five miles distant in the same county, Geo. 
B. Hartman, Esq., showed us through a nice little orchard of apple and plum, 
and exhibited some fine trellises of bearing grapes. Here, also, Mr. Alfred J. 
Urlin has a fine thrifty orchard of 1,000 three-year-old trees of different varieties. 
I am reminded that near Missoula, on the farm of A. G. England, I ate some 
delicious ripe strawberries, fresh from the vines, on the 8th of September! Mr. 
England calls them the everbearing strawberry, and says he never fails to pick 
fine ripe berries from that patch at any time from June till November. The 
plants originally came Ironi Illinois. 

In Deer Lodge county, nearer the center of the Territory, and at a much 
greater altitude than that of the localities above noted, Mr. Addison Smith 
reports: "We raise, in this county, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, rasp- 
berries and strawberries; apple, pear, plum and cherry trees grown by me are 
doing well. I planted an apple tree in 1873, which was eaten to the ground the 
same year by cattle. It came up in 1874, and in 1878 was full of blossoms and 
bore several apples, which matured before frost. ' ' 

In the suburbs of Helena, at an altitude of 4,300 feet above the sea, Mr. D. 
W. Curtiss has the largest tract devoted to the cultivation of small fruits in the 
Territory. Nine acres are planted with strawberries, and he has 8,000 currant 
bushes, 5,000 gooseberry, a few raspberry, and other plants, his entire tract con- 
sisting of 24 acres. Mr. Curtiss st.ates emphatically that he can produce any of 
the smaller fruits better than in Ohio, his old home, if let alone by the grass- 
hopper. With the assistance of one man he last year produced 7,000 quarts of 
strawberries, a fine crop of gooseberries and raspberries, and has ripened 1,000 
bushels of tomatoes in one season. His sales of fruits last year ran as high as 
$200 per day at the best season. Strawberries and other small fruits sell readily 
at from 40 cents to $1 per quart, and it is a common pastime of Helena citizens 
to walk through his grounds and pay 50 cents for the privilege of eating all the 
fruit they wish while there. Tomatoes sell at from 10 to 25 cents per pound. 
Mr. Curtiss came from Ohio to Helena ten years ago, and almost penniless, em- 
barked in small fruit culture. He has now one of the finest fruit farms in the 
west, from which he markets from $4,000 to $7,000 worth of fruits and vegeta- 
bles per year. He calls Montana " the best poor man's country in the world." 
He has lost many plants by grasshoppers, but considers himself a good many 
thousand dollars ahead yet. 

I might continue to quote experiences, — as several others are in mind, — 
but surely the above should disprove the notion, if it is entertained, that people 
of the east moving to Montana must forever leave behind such valuable luxuries 
as fruits. 

The only serious drawback Montana farmers have ever contended against is 
the grasshopper. These pests have never yet committed such wholesale destruc- 
tion in the mountain land as in the prairie states, although individuals have at 
times lost all their grain. The 'hopper seems to descend on the Montana val- 
leys for three or four consecutive years, and then almost entirely disappears for a 
similar period. He delights in making short calls here and there. One farm 
may be devastated, while the next will be left unharmed. For seven years 



154 



TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 



none were seen in the great Bitter Root and other valleys in western Montana. 
As destruction of the crops has never been general or complete, there has of 
course been no suffering among those whose farms were visited, and most 
wheat-growers agree that they can well afford to lose every third crop as long 
as yields and prices remain so favorable in the good years. 

As considerable has been said in the foregoing concerning large average 
yields of grain fields in Montana, the reader may be interested in noting a few 
names of farmers whose experiences for the past year or two have come under 
the observation of the writer. Following are the names of several prominent 
farmers of different valleys, with size of fields, amount of grain threshed, the 
average yield per acre for one season, and the selling price of the crop: 



Name. 


Location. 


Field 

in 
acres. 


Crop and Yield — 

bushels. 


Av. per 
Acre — 
bushels. 


Value of 
Crop. 


A. G. England 


Missoula Valley 

Sun River Valley .. .. 
Ruby Valley 


160 
40 

4 

ion 

8 

6 
2.3 
50 

23:^3 
n 

85 
48 
400 


Wheat, 7.000.. 
Oats, 2,000.. 
Oats, 410.. 
Wheat, 6,000. . 
Oats.' 600.. 
Oats, 620.. 
Wheat, 1.150.. 
Oats, 3.500.. 
Wheat, 1 1 .,on 
Oats, f ^'2^'^- 
Oats, 1200.. 
Oats. 4,982.. 
Wheat, 2,200.. 
Wheat, 10,000 


43 J£ 

50 
102'4 

60 

75 
103)a' 

50 

70 

45 

100 
57 

45 5-6 
50 


$8,400 




1,200 


Robert. Vaughn 


346 
7,200 


Brockaway's Kanch 


Yellowstone Valley 

Gallatin Valley 

Prickly Pear Valley — 

Missouri Valley 

Deer Lodge Valley 

Gallatin Valley 

Reese Creek Valley 

Ruby Valley 


360 
362 


Marion Leverich 

\\illiamKeed 


1,380 
2,100 

1,250 


Con. Kohrs 


720 

3,989 


Robert Baruett 

S. Hall 


2,640 
11,000 







Mr J. Y. Stewart, a thrifty farmer of Prickly Pear Valley, last fall put in his 
granaries 3,080 bushels of grain, all from an 80- acre field. Of this there were 
oats, 1,230 bushels; barley, 831 bushels; Wheat, 841 bushels; peas, 178 bushels. 
Such a yield, however, is not an exceptional one in the Territory, as proportion- 
ately good ones are enjoyed by farmers in many a valley. 



STOCK RAISING AND DAIRYING. 

As a grazing region Montana has no superior, and I doubt if an equal. Her 
38,000,000 acres of grazing lands are covered with nutritious bunch, buffalo and 
other grasses, whose fattening and bone and muscle-producing qualities offer a 
theme for endless surprise. Of all the grasses which grow without cultivation 
in any clime on the face of the globe, it is doubted if there is any which pos- 
sesses as much nutriment the year round, or upon which stock will grow or fat- 
ten better than the bunch grass of Montana. Glover, blue-grass, and the 
far-famed mesquite of Texas, sink into significance when compared with this. 
It often follows in thick, even carpets through valleys and over mountain tops 
for hundreds of miles at a stretch, curing in the mild, pure atmosphere as it 
grows, and imparting a flavor to beef or mutton, in summer and winter, that the 
best forage found in the states cannot produce. Never, in all my ramblings, 
have I tasted such delicious, juicy, tender steaks, as in the homes and hotels 
of Montana. Hon. R. W. Raymond, United States Commissioner of Mining 
Statistics, who has traveled extensively in Montana, says on this subject: "To 
be more exact I might say that to pasture a horse on bunch grass is like giving 
him plenty of good hay with regular and liberal feeds of grain'' ; while Prof. 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 155 

Cyrus Thomas, in his official reports on the agricultural resources of the Terri- 
tories, declares, "without injustice to any other part of the west, it maybe truly 
said of Montana that it is the best grazing section of the Rocki/ Mountain re- 
gion.'' 

There are several different varieties of bunch grass, two of which are the 
most popular and generally known; one with a blade that resembles blue-grass, 
and stems which run up in a cluster, bearing seed much in the same manner 
that blue-grass does, except that it does not form a tuft, but grows in bunches, 
and is found upon the high, rolling bench-lands, parks and mountains. The 
other kind grows more frequently upon the first bench, next to the bottoms; the 
blade is sharp, the heads all turn to one side, and from the broad boot on the 
seed-stalk it is often called "flag-grass." As to quantity per acre, there is but 
little or no difference. The latter is usually preferable for cattle, but the former 
is thought to be best for sheep, yet either is very fine. 

These grasses start forth in early spring, and grow very rapidly. If there 
have been heavy snows during the winter, and the ground is well saturated with 
water, or if there are frequent rain or snow storms as the spring opens, the crop 
of bunch grass is very large. In ordinary springs the grass is headed out by the 
1st of June, and the boundless prairies and hills are beautiful as a waving field 
of grain. The height of the grass is usually from twelve to eighteen inches, 
with blades from eight to twelve inches long, yet under very favorable circum- 
stances it grows much taller. I have seen miles and miles of bench-lands along 
the mountain slopes which were one vast sea of bunch grass fully thirty inches 
high, and thick enough to mow. By the last of June the heads ripen, and in 
ordinary seasons the blades are all nicely cured by the middle of July, and the 
whole landscape is brown as a field of grain ready for the sickle, and would burn 
if set on fire. In exceptional seasons the blades of the grass remain green and 
continue to grow until September. There is, however, no advantage in it re- 
maining green, as there seems to be no perceptible difference in the fattening of 
stock. In fact, many incline to the opinion that the early cured is the best. 
There is no time of the year in which stock take on fat faster than in the latter 
part of summer and early fall. The cured grass retains its nutriment all winter, 
from the fact that there are no drenching rains in the fall to bleach it, the light 
snows which come in early winter, and melt off soon, only serving to moisten it 
and make it more palatable. During the winter the low lands and sharp foot- 
hills are for the most part free from snow. Usually the snow is chased away by 
the wind, except that which is driven into the thick clusters of grass, and lies 
bedded among the old dead blades of other years. In grazing, the stock gather 
up more or less snow, which serves in a great measure as a substitute for water. 
When the snow departs in the spring, stock go to the foot-hills, following up 
the receding snow; the grass which lies covered all winter is relished best; be- 
sides, the young crop starts first and grows fastest among the sharp hills. In 
the states green grass in early spring appears to have a weakening effect upon 
stock, but here it comes forth among the old crop, and is so well mixed that 
there is scarcely any difference between it and dry feed. 

The question often arises, will this grass stand close grazing, or, like some 
wild gra!3ses in the east, be utterly destroyed by the clean cropping of the mill- 
ions of live stock which are destined to soon roam these natural pasture lands. 
Mr. R. N. Sutherlin, editor of the Montana Hushanfhnan, an excellent authority 



156 TO THE IIOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

on such matters, and to whom 1 am indebted for valuable data incorporated in 
this article, answers the quislion as foUuws: " In all that has ever been said or 
written of Montana, every one has praised her bunch grass, though many have 
been so shortsighted as to claim that it would not stand pasturage, and that in 
a few years our plateaus and mountain slopes would present a bai-c, bleak ap- 
pearance as do the red hills of California. But experience and practical test 
have proved the fallacy of such conclusions. It is a perennial, yet when the root 
becomes killed the seeds are so generally distributed by the wind that a barren 
tract adapted to its growth soon becomes covered. 

"In 1865 the hills around Virginia City were grazed off perfectly bai-e for a 
distance of six or seven miles in every direction, and many asserted tliat in a 
few years it would be a barren waste. To-day those hill-sides support as luxu- 
riant a growth of feed as they did previous to the habitation of the country by 
the whites. In 1866 there was no place within a radius of eight miles of Helena 
where one could turn out an ox train to graze. The grass was eaten off smooth 
to the ground. To-day the feed in this section is good, notwithstanding its con- 
stant pasturage in consequence of its being in such close pi-oximity to the city 
and the thick'y-settled valley. The soil of our mountains and adjacent plains 
is strongly impregnated with lime, which accounts, I think, for our wonderfully 
tenacious and nutritious grasses, as well as our extraordinary production of 
cereals." 

Western men differ very widely as to what variety of grass is buffalo grass 
A short, curly grass, which makes a considerable tuft, is generally known as 
DufFalo grass. It rarely gets over three or four inches iu length, and grows on 
bench lands and along the creek bottoms where the soil is dry. Two varieties 
of sage — one so black that it looks as if it had passed through fire, and the 
other almost white, growing from six to twelve inches high — are found in dif- 
ferent localities, and are among the most valuable of the native herbs for winter 
grazing. In most other Rocky mountain regions wild rye is found growing 
luxuriantly in the lowlands, or along water-courses, while in Montana we find 
patches of it near mountain summits so exuberant that a horse could hide him- 
self in it. 

Cattle Growing. — In the " old West " and eastern states the sto k grower is 
o' )liged to work hard for six months of the year to raise food to keep his cattle 
through the severe wet winters, while here cattle are especially self-reliant, and 
if left to take care of themselves, winter and summer, will grow while their 
owner sleeps, and come off the range, even in the spring, in good condition for 
market. Of the thousands of head of oxen which are worked hard by different 
freighting companies, from April until December, and are then turned out to 
forage for themselves until their work again commences in early spring, none 
have ever tasted a mouthful of hay or grain. No cattle but a few kept up in 
winter for dairy puiposes are ever fed or sheltered. The expense of caring for 
cattle in Montana, in herds of 1,000 or more, is about sixty cents per head per 
annum. Includiag taxes, this makes a full grown $30 steer cost a total of $3 
for care ard feed. The same animal in Ilhnois, be he scrub or thoroughbred, 
would cost his owner two-thirds of his selling price for feed alone. Cattle of all 
ages and sexes in Montana, in herds of any size, sell readily at an avei-age of 
$14 per head; beef steers aionc command $20 to $28; yearlings, either sex, $10; 
two-year olds, $12.50; cows, for breeding purposes alone, $15 to $20. Montana 




Gate of the Mountains, Near Helena, Montana. 
Reached via the Union Pacific and Utah & Northern Railroads. 



158 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

cattle are all from good American grades — ^ there is not a full-blooded Texan, I 
believe, in the Territory — and are being rapidly improved by the introduction 
of the best short-horn sires money will buy. The beeves are eagerly sought by 
outside buyers, and the fact that three-year-olds dress from 750 to 900 pounds 
is pretty good evidence that the stock possesses a large frame, and is not stunted 
at ail in its growth on account of the winters. 

Of course in this vast free pasturage no one need really own an acre of land, 
and, thus far, few have cared to. But all stockmen have headquarters as near 
their range as is practicable. This is called the ranch, and usually consists of 
a plain log cabin, and a large corral or pen in which stock can be held at brand- 
ing time. What extent of the boundless grass-lands surrounding are utilized 
by the owner depends entirely upon the size of his herd and his inclination to 
let cattle roam and care for themselves. It is true that ranch sites are sometimes 
better improved and herders employed; but to feed, water, shelter or salt the 
steer of the period would be a sad innovation upon the all-prevailing custom of 
letting said steer shift for himself. The improvements need not cost more than 
$250 — not that, if the owner will rely largely on his own muscle. The addi- 
tional expense will be the cost of living, if the owner does his own herding, and 
this will vary from $250 to $400 per year; if herders are employed, they are 
paid about $40 per month and board. One man can easily care for 1,000 cattle, 
except during the "round-up " period, which here occurs twice per year, lasts 
about two weeks each time, and will require three or four extra men during that 
time. I have before me the statement of a stockman who commenced with 
$3,500, buying 100 head of cows, putting up a neat log cabin, and reserving 
enough of the capital to pay his expenses for one year. At the end of the fourth 
year the increase from this little herd, at a low valuation, was worth $8,000. 
Another statement made for me by a well known stockman of Helena shows a 
net profit of $42,500 made in six years from an investment of $13,500. The loss 
from all causes has never yet been two per cent per annum, and some quite 
severe winters have been experienced. The average profit realized can without 
any doubt be placed at two per cent per month on all capital invested in cattle 
in Montana, and indeed I know of several of the most prominent stock owners 
who borrow money at that rate of interest, and have a respectable margin 
left. Con Kohrs, one of Montana's cattle kings, who commenced business with- 
out a dollar as a butcher, near Deer Lodge, a dozen years ago, states that he 
often finds it profitable to borrow large amounts to invest in cattle at two per 
cent per month interest. Mr. Kohrs owns some 8,000 head of cattle, and 
markets about $40,000 worth of beeves annually. Men who put a few hundred 
dollars into cattle five or six years ago have become rich almost before they 
could realize how wonderfully the profits multiply in a region where food and 
shelter for their herds cost nothing. Concerning this almost universal experi- 
ence, and the chances for duplicating it in future, Mr. S. T. Hauser, presi- 
dent of the First National Bank of Helena, in an interview which I had the 
pleasure of having with him last fall, said: 

" Four or five years ago, if a man came here to borrow money to put into a 
band of cattle or sheep, we would have laughed at him. Now we are doing 
business with a hundred or more stockmen and are glad to loan them money 
about as quick as we know they have stock and are inclined to pay honest 
debts. We loan at 1)^ and 2 per cent a month interest and we know their 



MONTAJSTA TERRITORY. 159 

profits are often larger than ours. We know all a man has to do is to brand his 
cattle and go to sleep; he needn't wake up lor a year and still his ability to pay 
will be unquestioned. Of probably a hundred men who borrow money here at 
these high rates of interest to go into the cattle business we know of none who are 
not on a short and sure road to fortune. Many of these, too, bought cattle when 
they were worth double what they are now, and consequently did not have as 
good a show as a man would who buys now. There was Con Kohrs and Will 
Swett who had to pay from $35 to $50 per head for their breeding cattle, while 
now they can buy at $15 to $18. But both are rich — Kohrs has some 8,000 head 
and has sold thousands of dollars' worth. Now there is much more show for a 
poor man. The business certainly beats 2 per cent per month compounded. 
I suppose people of the east will call us all crazy for making such statements, 
but we can't help that. These are genuine facts and experiences. A few days 
ago a young man came into the bank and passed over $30,000 as a deposit. He 
asked me whether I remembered him, but I couldn't remember his face. He 
said eight years ago he had tried to get some sheep from my brother on shares, 
or buy them on time. But brother wouldn't trade. He had only $250 in the 
world and put it in cows. Subsequently he borrowed a little more at 1% P^r 
cent. He has just sold his herd and has $30,000 clear money! Then there was 
a young man in charge of D. G. Flurry's herd in Sun River Valley. He was 
to care for them and get one-fifth of the increase. That was three years ago, 
and the young man without having a cent to start on can sell his interest for 
$15,000, or $5,000 a year for his work. Room? Why, we have hardly more than 
a cow for every square mile of pasture in the Territory, and you can ride a whole 
day over some of our best ranges and hardly see an animal. Risk? there is 
almost none. We have passed through the worst winter known in the 
country for 20 years — in fact, trees many years old were frozen that winter, and 
the loss was less than 2 per cent of all cattle in Montana. Flurry got here from 
Texas with his cattle very poor, just in time to go into that terrible winter. 
Remember his cattle were used to a warm climate, were not acclimated poor, etc., 
but they came out in good shape with a loss of 2 per cent. I. G. Baker & Co., 
in figuring on a large contract for transportation from Ft. Benton, 400 miles 
north into the British Possessions, calculated upon losing all their work cattle 
and left a good margin accordingly. Their trains got up to the British posts, 
on the Saskatchewan, 500 miles north of here, about Christmas, the oxen having 
had no feed but grass grazed by the way and being very poor. They were 
turned out to care for themselves, in that far northern country, and in spring 
were found fat, thus making a fine speculation on the contract. 

"There will be some 20,000 head exported this year and this is just the be- 
ginning, for our largest dealers have only been in business a few years, so that 
the three and four-year-old cattle until recently have been very scarce. Next year 
these exportations must be tripled or quadrupled, and so on in future. We who 
had a little money a dozen years ago were short-sighted not to take hold of the 
stock business, but are a good deal worse if we don't take hold now. 

" We export 1,000,000 pounds of wool this year — a small item of course, but 
remember that four years ago we had barely commenced wool-growing and not 
100,000 pounds were exported. No money, comparatively, has been invested in 
our mines. They have had to pay for themselves in most cases or were deserted, 
no matter how good the prospects. See the capital which has always poured into 



160 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

California, Colorado and Nevada. It cannot be said of Montana as it has been of 
those sections, that a dollar has been put into the ground for every dollar taken 
out." 

At present the ranges seem almost limitless, and as Mr. Hauser has indi- 
cated, are as yet principally trodden by the hoof of the buffalo, elk, antelope 
and deer. To be had " without money and without price," and offering such 
inducements for their utilization, we cannot but wonder that they are occupied 
only step by step as the herds naturally increase, instead of being speedily filled 
by cattle driven from crowded and less desirable pasture lands. Following is a 
statement of the number of cattle in the Territory each year since 1872. and the 
exports. It is compiled from reliable data, and will give at a glance the history 
of the business in Montana for the past six years : 

Cattle in Ca'tle Valueof 

Montaua. Export. Export. 

1873 8() 944 

1874 102,058 3.000 ■ f (iO.OOO 

1875 118,60;i 5.000 110.000 

187G 143.317 G,000 132,000 

1877. lS2.ti59 lO.dOO 220.000 

1878 250,000 22.0U0 440.000 

Total export and value 46,000 $963,000 

Of the 250,000 stock cattle now in Montana, probably not a thousand have 
ever tasted hay or grain, or have seen a shed. All Montana cattle men agree 
that if fair prices prevail this year, the export will easily double that of 1878 in 
numbers and value. The reason of this, as already indicated, is quite apparent. 
Most of the breeders who have engaged in the business on the largest scale only 
commenced three or four years ago with young cattle, and have had no increase 
old enough to ship until now. Half a million dollars' worth of cattle exported 
in 1878, and a million dollars' worth in 1879, from a few score of breeders, are 
figures more eloquent than words, indicating the money which an industry like 
this is putting into circulation. The principal route to market is that leading 
down the Yellowstone to Fort Custer; thence to Forts McKinney, Reno and 
Fetterman; and forward from the latter named post to Pine Bluff, a station 
fifty miles east of Cheyenne on the Union Pacific railroad. This road furnishes 
an abundance of excellent grass, and plenty of good water. The cattle reach 
the railroad in fine condition, and are shipped to Chicago, where they usually 
land in October or November. The drive from Sun River or other prominent 
valleys to the railroad occupies about two months. 

Dairying. — Climate, pasturage, water, and an unequaled market for dairy 
products, all combine to render dairying here one of the most lucrative and sat- 
isfactory pursuits. It is rarely that we find absolutely poor butter or cheese in 
Montana — it seems sheer crime to make it so with such bountiful facilities — 
and a large proportion would rate as "gilt-edged" almost anywhere. Cows cost 
nothing for their keep, and the product of butter or cheese is a clear gain, as the 
increase in stock will pay all expenses. I am personally acquamted with sev- 
eral Montana dairymen who commenced four or five years ago with rented cows, 
and not a dollar of capital. They are to-day the possessors of fine herds, good 
ranches, and worth from $5,000 to $10,000 each — all made by good honest 
labor in the corral and milk house. Dairy cows cost about $30 per head, or 



MONTANA TEKRITOKV. 161 

they can be rented by giving the owner the increase and one-fourth of the but- 
ter or cheese manufactured. Of course, dairying is generally carried on only 
during the seven or eight months of spring and summer, as few provide even 
so much as hay for cold weather, and when winter comes, the cows have about 
enough to do to keep in good flesh. The number of cows milked in Montana is 
placed at 10,000, and the product of butter and cheese in 1878 at 1,000,000 
pounds. Butter sells at from 35 to 50 cents per pound, and cheese at from 14 
to 20 cents. 

Sheep and Horses. — The rapidity with which Montana has become the land 
of the golden fleece is an open secret of the cause of much of her thrift. Pre- 
vious to 1873 there were probably not a thousand sheep in the Territory. The 
snug little business represented below is, then, a growth entire of only six years. 
The figures are mainly from reports of assessors, as are those on numbers of 
cattle, and in every case are known to be considerably too low. The value of 
sheep and amount of wool clip per head has been steadily increasing, and nearly 
all the flocks are now either high grade merino or cotswold. Samples of wool 
sent from Gallatin county flocks the past season to Boston, for classification, 
were by the best judges pronounced the finest ever received from the Rocky 
Mountains — second only to the very highest classes of wool raised in the United 
States. Fleeces average six pounds, and the mutton commonly served in Mon- 
tana is the best I have ever tasted. It should be stated here that some 40,000 
sheep were brought into the Territory by home capital during the past summer 
and fall from other states and territories : 

Number Wool Clip, 

Sheep. Value. lbs. 

1873 10,597 $ 33,699 43,000 

1874 18,947 46,327 61,200 

1875 20,790 65,489 90,000 

1876 51,558 148,894 257,800 

1877 80,000 234,864 400,000 

1878 200,000 650,000 1,000,000 

Sheep receive a little more attention than cattle, being sometimes provided 
with sheds in winter, but only at rare intervals receiving hay or other food, save 
that gathered by themselves. The most prominent wool growers put up hay 
regularly every season, in anticipation of "that bad winter" which is yet to 
appear. Cook Bros., of Smith River Valley, have followed this plan season 
after season for five years, and they have only fed their band five days during 
the whole period — their decaying haystacks all over their meadows pointing to 
the moral most forcibly. Even if the hay should be fed a month or two in win- 
ter, it costs next to nothing. It needs no argument to prove that these high, 
dry localities in the northwest are the natural habitat of the sheep. It is next 
to impossible to originate disease among sheep here, where they are out in the 
sunshine every day in the year, where there is no moisture to continually satu- 
rate the hoof and produce foot-rot, or to saturate the fleece and invite scab and 
other skin diseases; browsing where it is never muddy, the fleeces never get 
dirty or matted, and while rarely washed before shearing, the wool is as clean 
as that which is washed in most of the states. It is noticed that a much thicker 
and better quality of wool is produced from sheep which are driven here from 
other territories a year after the animal has reached the Montana pastures than 
was clipped four or five hundred miles farther south. The hair almost entirely 
11 



162 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

disappears, and is supplanted by a clean, long and heavj' coat of excellent 
fibre. 

The profits in wool-growing are by many placed higher than in cattle-gi-ow- 
mg, and even the more conservative breeders figure up a net profit of from 25 to 
35 per centum per annum on all capital invested. All agree that the wool clip 
will pay every item of expense, leaving the increase a clear gain. The loss from 
all causes is estimated at from 2 to 3 per cent. The annual increase of flocks, 
composed of all ages and sexes, is placed at 48 per cent, and the increase of 1,000 
ewes, two years old and upwai-ds, will range from 80 to 115 per cent — probably 
averaging 90 per cent. Sheep sell readily at from $3 to $4 per head. A herder 
easily cares for 2,000 head. I have a statement of Davenport, Ray & Co., promi- 
nent cattle and wool-growers, of Sun River Valley, which illustrates the enor- 
mous profits arising from a careful management of this industry. They leased. 
1,000 ewes to a man who possessed no caipital but his muscle, in 1875 — the party 
taking them agreeing to return the original number of ewes in four years, with 
half of the total increase, and to deliver one-half of the entire wool clip. In 
1876 the increase was 1,050; in 1877, 1.250; in 1878, 1,400. In July, 1876, the 
owners received $650 for their half of the wool clip; in 1877, $1,000; and in 
1878, $1,100. At the present rate of increase the herd will number 7,000 in the 
summer of 1879 (or at the end of the four years), worth at least $22,000, and the 
wool clip of this last year will be worth $2,250. The owners will thus have 
received, in four years, $5,000 worth of wool and 3,000 sheep, worth $10,000, or 
a return of $15,000 in four years, from an investment of $4,000, and will have 
their original band of sheep besides. The rente." had not a dollar at the start, 
but has now a $10,000 flock of sheep and a well-improved ranch. 

As a test of the Montana cli7nate, I will add that in the extremely cold winter 
of 1874-5 these gentlemen wintered 3,500 sheep on Sun river without any sheds. 
Although mercury at one time indicated a temperature of 40° below zero — 
something almost unparalleled at any altitude in Montana — they lost only 26 
head out of the 3,500, and 14 of these were killed by a $500 shepherd dog in his 
vigorous efforts at keeping the band together in a severe storm. During this 
unusually severe winter never did more than 140 head — a band of old and infirm 
sheep — ever receive hay at one time, the flock keeping fat by their daily brows- 
ing on the range. 

A well-known and thoroughly reliable resident of Helena thus writes of the 
experience of Governor Potts at wool-growing: " A better idea of the profits of 
sheep-raising in this Temtory can be conveyed by an illustration, and I select 
the experience of Hon. B. F. Potts, Governor of Montana. Some time ago he 
purchased a ranch on the Dearborn river, 50 miles north of Helena. Last Octo- 
ber he bought and placed upon it 4,000 sheep, at a cost averaging $3 per head. 
He subsequently sold 400. Of the remainder 2,700 were ewes. During the 
months of April and May these gave birth to 2,900 lambs. 200 were lost by ex- 
posure in the severe snow-storm that visited the Territory that spring, to com- 
pensate, it would seem, for a very mild winter, but the number of twins equaled 
the loss, and the net product, as appears from the above statement, was 100 per 
cent of the ewes. It is estimated that when a lamb is dropped it is worth $2, 
and that when three months old it is worth $3. The profit on the increase may 
therefore be put in round numbers at $5,000. The Governor has just completed 
his shearing. He sheared 3,600 sheep, and the average clip was six pounds per 



164 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

head. The wool is worth 26 cents in the eastern market, and the cost of trans- 
portation will scarcely exceed 4 cents. The proceeds of this clip will therefore 
be about $4,750. A return of nearly $10,000 in less than one year, on an invest- 
ment of $12,000, is certainly a most seductive showing." 

The production of a better class of horses, and also of hogs, is beginning to 
receive some attention. Horses are even more hardy than cattle or sheep; they 
have the advantage of being able to paw away the deipest snows that may 
cover their pasturage, and they never fail to take good care of themselves in the 
worst storms. The correspondent just quoted offers these practical suggestions 
on this business: "What are wanted here are good draught horses, and 
the market for such would be limitless, at paying prices. Suppose a man, 
probably in connection with some other business, such as sheep-raising or rais- 
ing grain, to buy 50 brood mares (half-breed), which he can procure at $30 each, 
and one draught stallion, costing $1,000. He will thus have invested $2,500. 
He need be at no expense for feeding or stabling, except in the case of the 
stallion, and at very little expense for herding, if he gives the business his per- 
sonal attention. The average of colts is 80 per cent of the marcs, so that at the 
end of the first year he would have 40 colts, worth $30 each, making $800, a 
return of over 30 per cent on his investment. Carry this computation forward, 
supposing him to sell off his geldings when they were four years old to pay ex- 
penses and to buy additional stallions, retaining the mare colts for breeders, and 
it will be seen that in five years he will have a band worth at least $10,000. 
Mr. Storey placed 200 mares on his ranch in the valley of the Yellowstone only 
a few years ago, and now has a herd of 1,200, worth an average of $75 each, be- 
sides having sold more than enough to pay all expenses." There are about 
50,000 horses in Montana, a large proportion of which are the regular " bronco " 
or mustang stock. However, there are several large bands of thoroughbreds, and 
fine breeding animals are by no means rare. 

In the absence of an abundance of corn, or a climate suitable for producing 
it extensively, a few farmers have been experimenting with peas as a substitute 
upon which to fatten hogs. Pork, by the way, is a rare commodity in all the 
northern country and commands very high prices. Mr. A. F. Nichols, of 
Gallatin county, sells from 12,000 to 20,000 pounds of pork annually, which has 
been produced on peas, and Bass Brothers, of Bitter Root Valley, market of 
bacon alone as high as 21,000 pounds per year. These gentlemen are of the 
opinion that peas make the best food for hogs, and they can produce more pork 
from an acre of peas than can be made from the same area in corn in Illinois. 
Pork in different forms sells at from 12 to 20 cents per pound in Montana towns, 
and hundreds of tons are still imported from distant states to supply the 
demand. Hogs for breeding purposes are very scarce at from $12 to $20 each. 

Any of the branches of stock-raising thus briefly outlined present oppor- 
tunities without end for speedy money-making in Montana. The requisites are 
in a nutshell, some capital at least, a careful study of the business, and the 
same attention devoted that would be bestowed upon any legitimate business 
venture of equal magnitude. So long as the world pays its greatest tribute to 
food — to bread and beef — the demand must ever keep its proportion beyond 
the supply, and these broad pastures and thousand nestling valleys are ready 
and waiting to respond to the magic touch of labor and capital judiciously 
applied. 



MONTAisA TERRITOKY. 165 



MINES AND MINING. 



Although I have made this interest take the third place in my brief treatise 
on Montana, it is the pith and marrow of the subject. Here the pen has its 
greatest temptation to run riot, and if ever enthusiasm needs suppressing, it is 
while considering the present and future of this fascinating industry in Montana. 
Next to California in her total production of gold, Montana is generally con- 
ceded one of the richest in deposits of precious and base metals of all our 
mineral regions. Her mountain ranges, extending alternately with her valleys 
from the copper fields of the Musselshell on the east to the extreme western 
border of the Territory, 350 miles, and from the Bear Paw range, near the 
British line at the north, to the Idaho line on the south, 300 miles, exhibit one 
vast succession of croppings of either gold, silver, copper, iron, lead or coal, 
and several counties contain extensive and valuable deposits of all of these. 
Alder Gulch alone — from whose sluice-boxes some $40,000,000 in dust and 
nuggets have been poured — has given the Territory a reputation which crosses 
the seas. Thus the mineral wealth of Montana is not seggregated into one 
vast fissure like the Comstock, but distributed by a generous hand into hundreds 
of veins and within the reach of all who posses^ the patience and industry to 
delve for it. 

The yield of gold thus far, according to the best authorities, has been 
$147,000,000; of silver, $6,000,000 — a total yield exceeding that of Colorado, 
Utah and Idaho combined. Over 1,000 gulch and placer claims have been dis- 
covered, and many are still being worked. While much of this gold yield ht^s 
come from the fabulously rich gulches, the grand fountain heads of metallic 
wealth lie in the quartz veins, of which some 20,000 have been recorded — and 
some prominent mountain ranges have hardly been the scene of a single bivouac 
of the prospector. This interest, merely in its inception, it is believed will soon 
place Montana second in the list of bullion producers. The rapidity with which 
the quartz mining interest is increasing in importance can best be judged from 
the fact that in 1875 the yield from this class of mines in Montana was, in round 
number^ $3,225,000; in 1876, $3,000,000; in 1877, $3,200,000; and in 1878, 
$4,200,000. The facilities for working mines and reducing ores were so largely 
increased in the fall months of the i)ast year that we are justified in placing the 
yield from quartz muies alone in 1879 at $6,000,000. The total yield of the 
quartz and placer mines of Montana for 1878 is stated as follows: 

Gold dust and bullion shipped by express $2,000,000 

Silver bullion shipped by express 1,750,000 

Gold dust taken out by individuals 100,000 

Silver handled in lead bullion and matte 540,000 

Ores taken out and remaining in hands of miners 750,000 

$5,140,000 

About sixty arastras, stamp-mills, smelting and concentrating works are 
now in operation in the Territory. Three thousand five hundred tons of base 
bullion and ore were shipped via the Utah & Northern Railroad to the Omaha 
and other smelting works the past summer. Concerning Montana silver mines, 
Hon. R. W. Raymond, United States Commissioner of Mining Statistics, 
reports that " It is noteworthy that most of the silver ores in Montana occur in 
fissure veins and not in limestone deposits. This circum.'stauce encourages the 



166 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

hope that the silver mining industry of Montana, if it does not bring forth such 
an immediately brilliant and voluminous product as certain districts in Utah 
and Nevada have done, will at all events be more enduring and permanent." 
Take this source of wealth, which is soon to prove Montana a peer of any of 
her sisters, and in the table following note the steady and rapid tribute from 
nothing in 1872 to millions in 1878. The estimates are from data furnished by 
the Helena banks, express offices and the United States assay office at that 
phice, and are believed to be rather under than over the true amount: 

In 1873 Montana's silver production was $201 oOO 

In 1874 " " •• " 4i)0 7«() 

In 1875 " '• " " 6(50 ()0i» 

Inl876 '' " " " 1.182.976 

In 1877 " " " " 1.2oO,<tnO 

In 1878 " " '• " 2,40U.OOO 

Of course the production of gold during these years was vastly greater than 
that of silver, but the annual increase in the yield of gold has not been so large. 
It is a fact admitted by such authorities as Raymond and the many mining 
experts who have examined the Montana silver lodes, that none others in the 
entire Rocky Mountain region give better promise of continuing and rapidly 
increasing their output than those of Butte, Philipsburg, Glendale and Jeffer- 
son, Montana. The -154,000 gold brick of the Penobscot mine near Eelina, a 
product of thirty days last season, startled readers all over the Union, and yet 
in its total production of about |200.000 in 1878, this property would in Mon- 
tana rank as third rate. Several of the silver mines at the camps just named 
show a production of from $o00,000 to $500,000 each for the same period. 
Following is a statement of the Director of the United States Mint showing the 
value of gold and silver bars manufactured from bullion in 1878 at the different 
government assay offices of the country. The Helena office, it seems, treats 
more bullion than the four other like institutions combined : 

Helena, Montana |716.738.41 

Denver, Colorado 3(52,807.65 

Boise, Idaho 62,588.54 

Charlotte, North Carolina 25.855.84 

New Orleans 18,554.17 

The Butte Silver Mines. — Foremost in the list of Montana's quartz mining 
camps is Butte, situated in Deer Lodge county, about 250 miles north of the 
present Utah & Northern Railroad terminus. Over 3,000 quartz mines have 
been located, sixteen quartz mills, roasters and arastras have been built and 
are turning out over $1,000,000 worth of silver bars yearly, and a handsome, 
solidly-built city of 4,000 inhabitants has appeared where three years ago was 
a collection of a dozen log huts, inhabited by a few miners who had not com- 
menced to dream of the present prosperity. Among the grand network of large 
and thoroughly defined silver veins which have been profitably worked during 
the past two years I may mention the Alice, Lexington, Original, Gagnon, La 
Plata, Parrott, Rainbow, Burlington, North Star, Acquisition, and Nettie. 

The Alice and adjoining claims on the Rainbow Lode, owned by the mer- 
chant princes of Salt Lake City, the Walker Brothers, form probably the best 
developed mine in Montana. The main shaft, over 300 feet deep, and other ex- 
tensive workings, demonstrate a lode of immense width, varying from 35 to 60 feet. 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 167 

Over 7,000 tons of ore have been raised from this giant treasure box, yielding all 
the way from $40 to $200 to the ton and worked in the extensive and well- 
ordered mill which stands a few rods down the hillside. About 250 bars of silver 
bullion, each bar weighing 2,000 ounces, have been shipped to Salt Lake, and 
the total product of the Alice of fifteen tons of pure silver in the last two years 
has attracted attention to Montana's mineral wealth as no other advertise- 
ment could. The average shipments are now about $45,000 in bai-s per month. 
This great vein has been traced for three miles over the mountains and across the 
gulches, and near the Alice mill the croppings rise some ten feet above the sur- 
face — an enormous dyke of Nature's masonry whose proportions and wealth in 
silver it would seem must penetrate the once-riven earth to unfathomable depths. 
Over $400,000 have been invested in the purchase and development of this mine, 
in the erection of the 20-stamp mill, steam hoisting works and pumps, and in the 
purchase of the vast quantities of salt, quicksilver and iron used in treating the 
ores. The mill and furnaces are greedy monsters, feeding not only upon twenty- 
five tons of ore daily, but devouring also every twelve months 1.000 tons of salt 
worth $80,000 and 40,000 pounds of quicksilver worth $20,000, besides great 
quantities of fuel. The pay-roll here amounts to $15,000 monthly, 80 men 
being employed in mine and mill. 

A wonderfully valuable cluster of claims is that upon and surrounding the 
Lexington mine, all owned by A. J. Davis, Esq. There are six shafts sunk upon 
the Lexington varying from 50 to 150 feet deep, and at the depth of 100 feet I 
walked upon the main vein for a distance of one-fourth of a mile, and occasion- 
ally turned to the right or left and explored its many rich spurs or branches. 
Mineral from all of these shafts without assorting has averaged 60 ounces in silver 
to the ton, and is nearly all easily reduced by the stamp mill and roasting process. 
I frequently traced a solid vein of ore 18 feet wide, every ton of which was worth 
from $50 to $200. Stopping at one point the foreman called my attention to a 
bright streak of metal which assays $20,000 in silver and $18,000 in gold per 
ton, and at another halt he pointed out a two-foot vein of sulphurets yielding 
$300 in silver and $100 in gold per ton. The ore is not assorted, every ton of 
the 6,000 thus far raised from these Aladdian, rock-bound avenues being hauled 
to the mill and paying well for crushing. The underground timbering betrays a 
skillful planning and arrangement ; any of the heavy sills, supports or joists 
• being so systematically fashioned that they will exactly fit in any similar position 
elsewhere in the mine. The total cost of mining, hauling and turning these 
ores into silver bars is only $12 per ton, so that a nice little margin is left on the 
vast quantity of ore which yields from $40 to $250 to the ton. The Lexington, 
with only a 10-stamp mill reducing its ores, has paid for itself, for ten other 
mines (aggregating 18,000 feet of paying veins), for a complete 10-stamp mill and 
a well-built iron foundiy, and is " on velvet," with a strong bank account ahead. 
Its output was about $250,000 in 1878, and its mill is to be doubled in capacity 
during 1879, so that a much larger yield may be credited hereafter. No vi.sitor 
should ever leave Butte without seeing this great mine, for be he novice or 
expert he will leave acknowledging that he has strolled over, under and around 
a fortune whose gigantic dimensions can be calculated upon, even thoagh it is 
underground. Divide your estimates by half, "on account of the lightness of 
the atmosphere," and you can demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that, 
there are $2,000,000 in sight in the different claims on the Lexington. 



168 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

It would be a pleasant duty to write of the Parrott, Modoc, Hattie Harvie, 
and other mines whose wide ore veins are so rich in copper that their product has 
been shipped to Baltimore for separation, and 'to note dozens of silver lodes 
which now promise as well as did those above described at the same stage of 
development, but with a brief reference to the great Gagnon mine,— which at 
Butte is called the bonanza claim of Montana,— I must turn to other districts. 
There are three claims on this vein which have already attracted considerable 
attention on account of the wonderful average richness of their ores, namely: 
the Original, National, and Gagnon. Ten shafts penetrate the lode to depths 
varying from 50 to 200 feet, and disclosing a vein ranging from 5 to 20 feet in 
width, from which thousands of tons of ore have been taken, yielding from 50 
ounces to 500 ounces in silver to the ton. In my rambles around the drifts and 
levels I found some large masses of ore spangled all over with grains of the un- 
mistakably pure silver. The lower grade ores are easily reduced at the Dexter 
mill near Butte, while the richer ones are shipped to the Colorado and Omaha 
smelting works. The Original, the first mine discovered in the camp, is owned 
by W. A. Clark, Esq., a banker of Butte, who also operates the Dexter mill, 
and ships high grade ores to distant smelting works. Mr. Clark last year ship- 
ped one lot of 15 car loads of ore from the Original to the Colorado smelting 
works, which averaged 190 ounces of silver to the ton, and yielded enough cop- 
per to almost pay the cost of transportation. This lot was taken from a two-foot 
vein without assorting, and contained specimens which assayed high up m the 
thousands. The mine paid a net profit of $30,000 in 1878. One lot of 175 tons 
of ore from the Gagnon. also shipped to Colorado, yielded $70,000 in silver and 
from 10 to 20 per cent copper. Following is a statement of the ore and bullion 
shipments of Butte for 1878: 

Value of silver bullion $899,000 

Gold dust 85,000 

Ore shipped via Utah & Northern R. R 1,920 tons ) ^^q qqq 

Ore shipped via Missouri River 135 tons ) ' 

Total value of Butte shipments $1,174,000 

A Rich Gold Mine and Valuable Cabinet. — In the Cable District, also in Deer 
Lodge county, is the Atlantic Cable gold mine, which has yielded its thousands 
in past years, and offers the richest specimens, I believe, that have ever been 
taken from a quartz mine in America. From one "pocket" on this lode, Mr. 
Cameron, one of the owners, took out 100 tons of quartz, which yielded, it is 
said, $20,000. From the same ore about two tons treated by hand (crushed in an 
ordinary druggist's mortar) yielded $8,000. Besides this, Mr. Cameron has 
a collection of specimens weighing altogether about 200 pounds, and presenting 
large masses of gold. One piece, almost solid gold, is worth $375; another, 
about the size of a small hen's egg, has projecting from the quartz a mass of 
pure gold in the shape of a finger, containing the precious metal to the value of 
$75. There are numerous pieces in the collection of solid gold, weighing at 
least an ounce each. This little cabinet contains nearly $7,000 in gold. 

The Philipsbiirg Silver District is another of the promising regions of Deer 
Lodge county. Here are the claims of the Hope, Algonquin, and Northwestern 
Mining Companies, each of which are adding a not very small mite in the way 
of silver bars to the world's riches daily. The Trout, Algonquin, Comanche. 



170 TO THE KOCKIES AisD BEYOND. 

Hope and Apache are leading mines, whose total product the past year has been 
sonjc $300,000. The Hope and Northwestern mills are among the finest in the 
west, and promise to continue and increase their output for many years. 

Silver lodes also abound in Moose Creek District, and valuable gold-bearing 
lodes in Highland, Snowshoe, McClellan, and Bear gulches — in fact Deer Lodge 
county is literally seamed with gold and silver mines, and adds to these some 
immense deposits of coal, iron, lead and copper. 

The Mines About Helena. — Almost every bluff and ravine for miles around 
Helena is auriferous. The "Penobsco^." 25 miles northwest of Helena, lying 
partially in Deer Lodge and partially in this county, is one of the most noted 
mines in the Territory. Many readers already know how the patient, hard- 
working and finally fortunate Vestel hero made his "stake " of $500,000 in less 
than a year — the mine yielding over $100,000 in the first 50 feet in a few 
months, and Mr. Vestel then selling out for $400,000. The deepest point 
reached in this now famous lode is about 150 feet, and the character of the vein 
matter thus far quite equals the most sanguine hopes of its owners. With its 
present appliances for the treatment of ores it will yield not less than $500,000 
of the precious metal during 1879, and with the increase of the number of 
stamps, as now proposed by the new company, its yield will be over a million. 
The "Belmont," the next best equipped mine in the same locality, it is esti- 
mated will yield about $150,000 — even if there is no improvement in the char- 
acter of its output during the year. The " Whippoorwill" has recently dis- 
covered unexpected treasure, its owners claiming for it an equal degree of rich- 
ness with the "Penobscot." The "Blue Bird," with very little development, 
but promising exceedingly well, has milled ore worth $40 per ton. Within five 
miles of Helena, the " Black Alder," a gold lode, has just been opened, which 
makes a remarkably large display of ore, which has netted not less than $25 per 
ton by the ordinary mill process. This is in the vicinity of the famous " White- 
lach Union," which has yielded about $3,500,000 in gold. About the same dis- 
tance from Helena, in a noiiherly direction, is the "Lexington " mine, a veri- 
table curiosity in the mineral world. It has produced nearly every conceivable 
kind of silver, from the native metal down through all its various combinations. 
Out of less than 200 tons of the ore-product, about $30,000 were realized, ac- 
cording to f-tatistics published in June, 1877. A shipment of six tons yielded 
$5,887.79, and one ton sold here carried nearly $6,000. Development is now 
going on under the auspices of an energetic company. The Ten Mile and Red 
Mountain districts, within two hours' drive of Helena, contain silver-bearing 
lodes in great numbers, a few of which develop ores that pay well for shipment 
to foreign reduction works, but the great majority of which lie idle awaiting 
capital and cheaper means of reduction th; n ire available at present. In these 
districts are all the various ores essential to run complete reduction works, con- 
taining free milling, galena, and the various iron and copper and other ores 
required for fluxing. 

Many other deserving districts and mines could be mentioned, but lack of 
space forbids. Last Chance and its tributary gulches, in which Helena is built, 
have already yielded some $15,000,000 in gold, almost without the application 
of capital, and mining still progresses among the lower streets, as well as in 
every nook and corner of the romantic gulches and mountains closely surround- 
ing. These gulches have been usually productive the past year, yielding not far 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 171 

from $500,000. It is fair to expect a much larger return for next year, when the 
flumes now partialljj completed reach and open the ground now known to con- 
tain an abundance of the precious dust. 

Naturally tributary to Helena are the Jefferson county mines, which in years 
past have yielded some $6,000,000, and are credited with a yield of |200,000 
in 1878. Its mines carry both gold and silver, and are mainly found near Jeffer- 
son. Radersburg and Boulder. Near Jefferson, twenty-four miles south of 
Helena, we were shown the returns from eight partially developed silver lodes, 
whose ores were yielding from 80 to 225 ounces of silver to the ton, and fifty per 
cent lead. Copper is also found in some of these ores in considerable quantity. 
Among the principal mines are the "' Argenta," 325 feet deep, which has yielded 
$100,000; the "Comet," which has shipped 2,000 tons of ore to eastern reduc- 
tion works — and whose owners think they can ship about a good train load 
daily upon the advent of the Utah & Northern; the " Alta," which offers ore 
carrying as high as $600 worth of silver to the ton: and the famous " Rumley," 
which has yielded its hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of rich silver ores. 
Some twenty-five other mines within a radius of ten miles of Jefferson show very ex- 
cellent " prospects, " and the district seems to be a vast net-work of argentiferous 
veins. The Montana Company's concentrating and reduction works, which have 
cost $150,000, are located, near Jefferson. Their production during 1878 was 
$7."). 000, and are now yielding at the rate of $375 per day. With improve- 
nii-nts, now being added, these works are expected to easily produce $200,000 
per annum. The Boulder District joins the Jefferson District, and many valuable 
silver, copper and gold lodes are found there. 

Among the cluster of mines near Radersburg are promising silver and copper 
veins, the "A. M. Holter" and the "Copper King" being worthy of special 
mention. The former carries a fine body of ore, assaying from $40 away up to 
$8,000 in silver per ton, while the latter is rich in sulphurets of copper, yielding 
from 40 to 60 per cent of pure copper. The ores of the principal leads of this 
district contain iron after a certain depth is reached, and for their successful re- 
duction more elaborate works will have to be constructed. These will be added 
in the immediate future, and the mines will again add largely to the gross gold 
product of the Territoiy. The gulch mines near Radersburg are very extensive, 
and have paid from $10 to $15 per day to the man the past season. Several 
mills are also crushing quartz from gold mines in this vicinity, and from all ap- 
pearances are reaping a golden harvest. Clancy, eighteen miles from Helena, 
has been a lively silver mining camp in the past, and the future will doubtless 
see it more so. Jeffei-son will surely be one of the great mining counties of the 
Territory: 

Southern Montana Mines. — The mines of Beaver Head and Madison counties 
give promise of a future immediately brilliant, because of their nearness to the 
Utah & Northern Railroad, which is so rapidly approaching from the south. 
The advantage they will now possess because of their accessibility, and the 
ease and economy with which machinery and supplies can be transported to 
them, or ores carried out, are items which will enter largely into their future 
history. Both counties abound in rich mineral districts, the quartz mines of 
Beaver Head county, however, just at present attracting by far the larger share 
of attention. The first gold mining operations of note in Montana occurred in 
the fall of 1862, at Bannack, now the county seat of this county, and since then 



l72 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

some $4,000,000 worth of placer gold have been produced. There are seven 
organized mining districts within the bounds of Beaver Head. In these are 
some of the very best silver mines in the Territory, and a number which have 
yielded small quantities of fabulously rich gold ores. Deposits of iron, copper 
and coal are also reported in various sections. 

The banner district of the county, so far as developed, is Bryant, in the 
northern portion, where such mines as the "Atlantis," " True Fissure, " and 
" Cleve " have been surprising even their owners with their wonderful rock- 
bound offerings. Nearly all of the developed lodes lie high among rugged 
mountains, and belong to the Hecla Consolidated Mining Company, whose 
great smelting works enliven the pretty village of Glendale, ten miles below. 
Most of the vjjins carry oxidized lead ores, very rich in silver, and having a 
formation peculiarly their own. Plainly traceable by croppings on the surface 
for 3,000 feet, they are found to lie in a system of caves — these caves being con- 
nected by narrow ore bodies which are never lost sight of. Continuous streaks 
of ore from eight to twelve feet wide and 500 feet in length have been followed 
and found to average over 100 ounces of silver to the ton; in fact, every ton of 
the many thousands thus far worked has averaged 116 ounces of silver, 15 per 
cent copper, and quite a proportion of lead. The deposits are seemingly inex- 
haustible. At the mines there are three sets of splendid steam-hoisting works, 
and several of the most approved steam drills. 

The smelting works, among the finest in the Rocky Mountains, consist of two 
reverberatory furnaces, two blast furnaces, three refining furnaces, and such 
auxiliaries as a ten-stamp mill, assay office, ore house, etc., the buildings cover- 
ing five acres of ground, and constituting quite a village in themselves. An 
. additional blast furnace will be erected. These improvements have cost about 
$400,000. The production for 1878 was $400,000 worth of silver, lead and 
copper. This was nearly all from the " Atlantis "mine. The year previous the 
product was $200,000, and in 1876, when only the nucleus of the present vast 
establishment was on the ground, $100,000. Much of the product is shipped 
out over the Utah & Northern Railroad in the shape of base bullion and copper 
matte to other smelting works. The entire shipments for 1878 were about 
1,000 tons of silver and lead bullion and copper matte. The company emploj'S 
directly and indirectly 300 men, the pay-roll and expense account footing up 
$20,000 per month. Nearly 2,000 bushels of charcoal, which is manufactured 
near by, is consumed in the furnaces every twenty-four hours. 

The company has commenced the construction of what will probably be the 
pioneer steam railway of Montana. This will extend from mills to mines, a 
distance of ten miles, to facilitate the transportation of ores and supplies. It 
will be 30-inch gauge up to the last two miles among the mines, where the stu- 
pendous grade of 700 feet to the mile will necessitate the traction rail system. 
Grading along the romantic slopes is actively progressing, while the manufac- 
ture of engines, cars and rails, already under way in the east, indicates what 
Mr. Armstrong promises — a high line excursion over a Montana railroad by the 
coming midsummer. Considering that the company is now paying $300 per 
day for ore-hauling, and the ores seem inexhaustible in quantity, this appears a 
wise investment. A flume twelve miles long, to convey wood from the heavy 
forests in adjacent mountains, is also in progress. It is reliably stated that the 
Hecla company realized a net profit of $100,000 on its operations in 1878, and 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 173 

this is only a fair illustration of -what capital, judiciously invested and carefully 
manipulated, will accomplish in many of the mining- districts of Montana. 

Six miles north of Bryant is Vipond district, where there are several well 
defined silver lodes. From these mines several hundred tons of oi-e recently 
yielded an average of $200 to the ton. Three arastras, running on ore from dif- 
ferent lodes in this district, are pi'oving them worthy the attention of capital. 
Some 25 miles north of Bannack is Elkhorn silver district, in which the " Storm " 
is a local bonanza, carrying- a 10-foot vein of ore, which is said to average $50 
to the ton. The operations of a six-stamp mill for two months here resulted in a 
yield of $7,000. Three miles east of Bannack is Blue Wing- District, and 15 
miles northeast, Argenta District, both showing some exceptionally fine silver 
ores. In the latter, a blast furnace has, during the past two seasons, turned 
out $100,000 worth of bullion. The gold quartz mines in the vicinity of Ban- 
nack have been operated continuously for the past fifteen years. The Dakota 
mine is not only a fine property, but possesses historical interest, having been 
the first quartz lode discovered in Montana. The Wapello, St. Paul, and 
Excelsior are other prominent mines in the vicinity of Bannack. Several 
stamp mills and an arastra are in successful operation on these mines. Horse 
Prairie and Medicine Lodge districts, fifteen miles west from Bann-ack, are 
yielding considerable quantities of gulch gold, and exhibit very good "pros- 
pects " of copper and coal. 

The total yield of the mines in 1878 is as follows : Gold shipped per express, 
$100,000; refined silver bullion, $50,000; base bullion and copper matte, 
$450,000; total value, $600,000. 

Mining is the great industry of Madison county. The principal minerals are 
gold, silver, lead, copper, iron and coal; precious stones are quite abundant, and 
among the most valuable are rubies, garnets and agates. There are ledges of 
white marble, also of excellent building rock and sandstone, the latter used in the 
manufacture of grindstones. Madison county has quartz lodes in nearly every 
section of its large territory, almost every bluff and mountain range being aurif- 
erous. There have been five thousand quartz mines recorded in the county. 
Gold is the chief article of export. All the world knows of Alder Gulch, whose 
unexampled richness first really started Montana on an era of prosperity that 
will know no end. This gulch lies near the center of the county. It has yielded 
$35,000,000 or more, and for sixteen miles it is yet strung with mining enter- 
prises of more or less magnitude. Its yield in 1878 approximated very closely to 
$500,000. One claim yielded $60,000 in six months the past season. 

During the past year the Broadway mine, at Silver Star, in the north- 
western comer of the county, yielded $100,000 in gold, and quite a cluster of 
mines in that vicinity are being successfully worked. The Broadway has a vein 
from 12 to 28 feet wide, containing free milling red hematite ore, similar to that 
so common in the Black Hills. There are 40 stamps and probably a dozen aras- 
tras running in Silver Star District. The yield of the district for the past twelve 
months is estimated at $125,000. Thirty miles northeast of Virginia is Red 
Bluff District, in which a ten-stamp mill and an arastra are cleaning up small 
fortunes annually without much ado. 

Gold mines are being worked at a nice profit in Meadow Creek, Wisconsin 
Creek, Sheridan, Iron Rod, Hot Springs, Alder, Summit and other districts with- 
in forty miles of Virginia City. The old-fashioned arastra, the connecting link 



174 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

between the hand mortar and the stamp mill, is found grinding away on every 
hand, but is destined to be superseded by the mill at no distant day, and the 
general gold product of Madison county will then be augmented into millions. 
The total yield of the mines in the past year is placed at $650,000. 

Then Madison has excellent silver mines, which, though not extensively 
worked at present, will make a fine showing ere long. The Potosi silver district, 
which lies 40 miles north of Virginia City, in the rugged Tobacco Root range, 
offers the Bullion lode, with a six-inch crevice, showing specimens of silver glance 
and sulphurets assaying $30,000 to the ton; the Palmetto, Crown Point, 
Iriii, and twenty other mines, showing veins from twelve inches to two feet 
wide, with ore averaging from 100 to 500 ounces to the ton; but Potosi District, 
v^ith only its narrow trails, not dreaming of the railway age, still awaits the 
wagon-road era, an era which it is hoped will soon dawn. 

Copper veins yielding from 25 to 40 per cent copper, zinc ores carrying 30 
per cent zinc, coal which burns nicely in stove or forge, and large deposits of 
iron, are among other minerals of Madison county awaiting the appearance of 
capital for their development. 

The Prospects Elsewhere. — In Missoula county, in the northwest corner of 
the Territory, a grand mineral wealth is also indicated by old and recent devel- 
opments. In the eastern part of the county is the lately organized Wallace 
mining district, in which quartz ledges rich in gold, silver and copper are plainly 
traced to a great length by enormous croppings on the surface. Some 50 mines 
have been located, and moneyed men are becoming interested. In the western 
portion of the county, on Nine Mile Creek, silver mines are being worked and 
are producing ore assaying all the way from 40 to 1,800 ounces of silver to the 
ton. Near by are gulch mines which have yielded over $1,000,000, and are still 
responding quite liberally to the efforts of Chinamen. In the gulch mines of 
Cedar Creek, Quartz Creek and Sunrise districts about 250 men are quietly ply- 
ing shovel and sluice fork with satisfactory results. It is a pretty well estab- 
lished fact that different other regions of the county contain gold and silver 
quartz deposits, but the isolation and long distance from railroad communication 
have operated not only against prospecting, but also against development 
when mines were found. There is an excellent vein of soft coal about five miles 
from Missoula City. 

In Gallatin county there are mines not to be overlooked. Bear Gulch quartz 
district, and Emigrant Gulch placer mines, in the central part of the county, 
have yielded fairly the past season, with fine prospects for the future. The 
Clark's Fork silver mines, just over the Wyoming line, 75 miles southeast of 
Bozeman, have yielded good ores, and a smelter is now on the grounds to fur- 
ther utilize them. Iron deposits are found 15 miles south of Bozeman, and also 
40 miles east. The latter are said to be magnetic ores of a very high grade and 
in immense quantity. A large deposit of lignite is found within five miles of 
Bozeman, another fifteen miles distant. The product of each is burned in Boze- 
man, and is called very fair fuel. On the Crow Agency, 100 miles east of Boze- 
man, a very superior bed of lignite is also found. 

Choteau county contains the Bear Paw mines about which so much excite- 
ment prevailed early in 1878. Gulch mining operations have thus far proved 
rather unsatisfactory, but residents of Fort Benton claim that developments now 
progressing there will prove them quite extensive and rich, — excellent silver 



176 TO THE EOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

quartz has been discovered there. Choteau contains several deposits of good 
soft coal, one of which yields to the extent of about 7,000 bushels annually. 

In passing over Meagher county from Helena, I entered the Belt mountains 
by that noted golden avenue, "Confederate Gulch." For ten miles there is a 
constant succession of old gulch and bar diggings, where, in 1865, the occupants 
were numbered by thousands, and where, even yet, a determined rear guard 
meets encouragement in the sluice-box sufficient to warrant such lingering. 
The gulch at Diamond City, and above, was long ago stripped of earth and 
gravel to bed-rock, and the mountain on the left is in a fair way to make the 
same inevitable journey down through the sluice-box. A few steps above Dia- 
mond City is Montana Bar, from which f 1,000 in gold were taken from a single 
pan of dirt in 1868. The bar was undoubtedly the richest ever discovered in 
America, for its size. It is only half a mile long, and from 200 to 300 feet wide. 
Each 100 feet of this half mile panned out more than $100,000, and the novel 
spectacle of four-horse wagon loads of gold leaving camp with a battalion of 
armed men as a guard, was witnessed here more than once. Meagher county 
is credited with a total yield of $10,000,000 in gold. This is nearly all from the 
placers we have passed. There are numerous gold, silver, lead and copper 
ledges in Meagher awaiting the capital that the railroad era is bound to bring, 
and the coal deposits are probably the most extensive in the Territory. 

As has already been noted, coal, iron and copper abound in nearly every 
county in the Territory. Copper is found in immense deposits, assaying from 20 
to 50 per cent pure. Concerning Montana copper ores, Raymond, in his report 
of 1877, says: "The almost uniform experience of working the Montana copper 
veins has been to demonstrate that the veins improve in width and richness 
the deeper the shafts are sunk. At a depth of from 80 to 100 feet several of 
them now show ore that will average 50 per cent copper, though near the sur- 
face the same openings yielded ore carrying but 25 to 33 per cent. The lodes of 
copper are abundant, and the veins from 4 to 100 feet in width." 

The smelting works at Helena had occasion not long since to advertise for 
iron ore, to be used for flusing with silver ores, and were immediately deluged 
with samples from forty-eight different deposits or mines running in value all 
the way from 25 to 80 per cent pure iron, and representing every conceivable 
variety of ore. An iron mountain in Deer Lodge county, three or four times 
larger than the celebrated iron mountain in Missouri, averages 30 per cent of 
that metal. Coal beds lie within three miles. An iron furnace is to be built 
there the coming season. About 60,000 square miles of Montana's area is un- 
derlaid with coal. Lead ores averaging 75 per cent and a proportion of silver 
are frequent. These various interests present a field not only worthy the atten- 
tion of capital, but of labor also — for in this land muscle commands a premium, 
if anywhere in the wide world. 

The 400 miles — and often more — of wagon freighting, to and from Montana, 
has been the most discouraging item. No other territory has been so isolated. 
While mining operations could often be carried on without much dependence upon 
outside auxiliaries, the far more important quartz-mining interest has demanded 
heavy machinery, costly and bulky crushers and smelters, adjuncts to successful 
operations, which had to suffer these aggravating delays and enormous expenses 
incident to the long overland trip, or the almost equally unsatisfactory Missouri 
river jaunt, which was of avail only three or four months of a year. Thus far 



MOXTAXA TERRITOUY 177 

Montana mines have also been almost entirely developed by home capital, and 
the instances are many w^here money has been borrowed by the miners for the 
purposes of development, at an interest of from two to four i)er cent jKr month! 
To separate these precious metals successfully; to crush tons of stubborn and solid 
rock beneath the ponderous stamps of the quartz mill for ounces of dust; to 
melt large masses of ore in the fiery furnace of the smelting works for silver 
"buttons " or " bricks," and to receive pay for handling the worthless portions, 
taxes the skill, ingenuity and industry of these determined citizens of Montana. 
But where mines are so rich that they justify the miner in putting ores in sacks, 
and hauling it 400 miles to the railroad, and then shipping it to the seaboard or 
even across the ocean, as has been done, for treatment, .they deserve railways — 
those grand agencies for the development of all countries. The " railway era " 
of Montana will indeed be a happy one; for it will unloose the fetters of hun- 
dreds of rich mines and convey untold millions of wealth to the outside world, 

PICTURESQUE MONTANA. 

Entering Montana from the south, via the Union Pacific and Utah & Northern 
Railroads, the tourist hardly crosses the line ere objects of interest to the purely 
aesthetic taste plead for attention right and left. Then he may wander all over 
this marvelously beautiful domain, from the bad land region of the lower Mis- 
souri and Yellowstone at the extreme east, to the grandly rugged and often 
iridescent summits of the Bitter Root range at the western boundary, and, at 
the close, confess in his bewilderment that nature charmed so irresistibly at 
different steps, it would be difficult which spot to favor in a second ramble. 
When, from the slopes of Madison county's " Old Baldy," I looked down upon 
Ruby Valley, with the golden light of the morning sun creeping down the 
purple heights of Ruby range, and gradually chasing away the deepest shadows, 
I mentally ejaculated there could be no such other enrapturing picture in all 
nature. But a few weeks later I feasted my eyes on Bitter Root Valley, far to 
the northwest, with its wildly romantic walls lifting snowy summits six thou- 
sand feet above my head, its river a glorious mirror of the fields, forests and 
orchards fringing it, and its golden harvests and pine-embowered homes — sun- 
set and all — and, mutable mortal that I was, straightway proved treacherous 
to fair little Ruby. As for the distinctively grand and awe-inspiring, when still 
a few weeks later I peered into that five-mile throat of granite through which 
the Missouri seeks egress from mountainland, or stood enraptured among the 
clouds of spray at the feet of the great falls of the same noble stream, I could 
easily forget both Bitter Root and Ruby. 

Then, when I add that Montana abounds in hot mineral springs, in many of 
•which I bathed in turn, at each successive ablution vowing that I had never 
enjoyed such an exhilarating douche before, you can imagine that for the invalid 
there is here much room — though little necessity — for choice. Every county, 
almost every valley, of the great Territory presents these healing waters, of 
virtues unexcelled, as variable in kind as the trees in her forests, and in quantity 
not equaled anywhere outside the vales of "Wonderland." I found them 
occasionally utilized, and in a limited way fulfilling the beneficent behests 
designed, but more often their waters were found wastefully mingling with the 
pure ice-cold current of neighboring streams, and forever losing their identity 
during the long journey to the sea. 
12 



178 TO THE ROCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

Near Lovell's, in Beaver Head Valley, and in full view of the stage road, is 
Beaver Head Rock. It is this quaint landmark which gives river, valley and 
county their name; and as there is a very good likeness of it in these pages, 
readers will unite in saying that the title is appropriately bestowed. The rock 
rises 300 feet above the river, and is so near the perpendicular that a plummet 
suspended from its summit would drop into the edge of the deep eddy which 
washes its southern base. A short walk up the caiion, bursting from the cliffs 
by the roadside, is a cluster of warm springs. They throw off a strong stream 
of water, and, dropping over a ledge some twenty-five feet above the road, form 
the pretty little Twin Falls, which Montana-bound people admire so much. 

Twenty miles west of Lovell's, near Argenta, is one of the naost interesting 
caves in the West. Its principal entrance is at the base of an abrupt, heavily 
timbered mountain, a pretty park-like opening among some towering pines 
marking the spot. A good carriage-drive leads direct to its mouth. Passing 
through a hall-way some twenty feet wide and fifty feet long, cut in solid lime- 
stone, the visitor finds himself on a rapid down-grade, leading toward the heart 
of the mountain, at an angle of 45°. This descent is through a larger chamber, 
with an arched roof thirty feet high, the roof being studded with stalactites. 
This glittering canopy fairly dazzles the eye as the torches flash upon it, and 
presents a weird and beautiful contrast to the sombre walls on either hand or 
underneath. After descending some 200 feet at the angle noted above, the 
cavern becomes more nearly level, and penetrates the mountain for a distance of 
about 1,200 feet, ranging from five to forty feet in height, and from ten to fifty 
feet in width. Many subterranean chambers as large as the principal one branch 
off from it on either side, and are often taken for the main one until an abrupt 
termination shows the error. At one point a fountain of pure cold water bursts 
from a bowl in the side wall, looking as if it might have been carved out there 
by human hands. The crystals from the roof are beautiful souvenirs, and 
specimens grace several Montana cabinets. Birch and Rattlesnake creeks, 
dashing down through neighboring ravines, abound in mountain trout, and the 
vicinity of the cave is the favorite haunt of Beaver Head county hunters. An 
old resident in the vicinity says he has killed no less than 150 deer within a 
radius of five miles in the last dozen years. 

Proceeding northward toward Helena, the stage road crosses Madison county, 
and when readers are told that Madison county boasts three or four valleys as 
fair as our favorite Ruby, two or three of the grandest mountain ranges in Mon- 
tana, and no telling how many mountain-locked lakes, beautiful waterfalls, and 
deep-riven canons, they will realize that there is also something worth tarrying 
for here. Ruby range, in Madison county, gets its name from the many beau- 
tiful rubies found upon it, and also from the indescribable sunset tints it reflects 
when seen under the gradually fading light of evening. Silver Springs, near 
Salisbury in Ruby Valley, are worth visiting. Their tepid waters gush forth 
from the foot of the bluffs in copious quantifies and are gathered in a miniature 
lake. A stream, which turns the wheel for one of the largest flouring mills in 
Montana, constantly flows from this collection of water, is carried through a 
ditch one mile and a quarter in length, and does its work in the coldest weather 
without containing the least particle of ice. The lake appears singularly beau- 
tiful in winter when nature is sometimrs snow-clad and ice-bound on all sides. 
The bottom is covered with a thick growth of green verdure, the sky and sur- 



180 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

rounding: objects are delineated beneath the crystal surface, while the musquash 
and articulate animals sport and swim in their warm home as though they 
enjoyed porpetual summer. 

High up in Tobacco Root range, overlooking Ruby Valley, is a collection of 
crystal lakes, the most noted — Silver and Harrison — possessing such rare 
charms that they are the resort of Montana pleasure-seekers, whose choice is a 
sufficient testimonial. Another object of more than ordinaiy interest in south- 
ern Montana, is Madison River Canon. The heavy waters of that great inland 
sea of bygone ages — which geologists love to tell us about — constantly wash- 
ing against the Madison range finally forced an opening, carved out a canon 15 
miles in length, and created an egress for this vast body of water. There is no 
trail leading through this narrow defile; at places the perpendicular c'ifFs rise 
to a height of six or seven hundred feet on either side of the stream, thus cut- 
ting off any attempt that might be made to walk through it, and the river is 
lashed into too many whirlpools, and tumbles over too many rapids to admit of 
passing through in a canoe. Up the valley, hot springs and warm streams are 
numerous. Professor Hayden declares that "the valley of the Madison above 
the canon is a marvel of picturesque beauty. The descent must be slight, for 
the river, with the branches which come in on either side, meander through 
the grassy meadows with the most remarkably sinuous course I have ever seen. 
The skillful landscape-gardener could gather some useful hints in his art from 
this region. The channel appears as though it had been cut out by the hand of 
art, and the little islands in the channel are of every conceivable form and of 
great beauty. This ?ocality, with such a marvelously beautiful landscape, will 
ever remain one of the wonders of this region." 

In Ruby Valley, 16 miles southwest of Virginia City, by a fine carriage 
drive, are Puller's Hot Springs. Patients here were wonderfully enthusiastic at 
the time of my visit concerning the excellence of the waters and the superiority 
of Raby Valley sunshine. The principal pool, which is now converted into a 
large swimming bath, is fed by some forty springs which boil from beneath. 
Sulphur and iron' strongly predominate in these waters, and some marvelous 
cures of paralytic cases which they have effected have come under my notice. 
The temperature is 102°. Adjoining the swimming bath are three or four pri- 
vate plunge baths, each with neatly furnished dressing room. A few steps from 
the large pool is a spring throwing off a great volume of water of a temperature 
of 113°, presenting about the same analysis as the other, while a hundred yards 
distant is a beautiful fountam of cold water, strongly impregnated with sulphur. 
A neat little hotel and several cottages afford necessary accommodations for the 
health-seeker. 

Proceeding northward to Helena our road passes through Jefferson county, 
where Jefferson River, the noble father of the Missouri, and the picturesque 
Boulder range afford many pleasing landscapes in their extremely diverse 
ways. Westward from Jefferson is Deer Lodge county, within whose confines 
I believe are more different elements of majesty and beauty in nature than in 
any area of like extent in Montana. There are several superb peaks, many 
charming lakes, and dozens of wonderfully pretty water-courses in the county. 
Powell's Peak, twenty miles west of Deer Lodge City, rising two miles above 
sea level, is a grand old sentinel, overlooking a region as large as all New 
Enj^'-kind. Seven enchantingly beautiful lakes lie high up among the forests of 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 181 

pine and spruce on the west and south sides of Mount Powell. Three of these 
lie within 1,500 feet of the mountain crest, their waters continually pouring in 
a series of glittering cascades over rocks and through rank masses of foliage to 
the valley, thousands of feet below. Flint Creek Palls, ten miles south of Phil- 
ipsburg, consist of a cascade of water lashed into snowy foam for a distance of 500 
feet down a heavily timbered rocky gorge. Deer Lodge county is quite moun- 
tainous and wooded — lovely and romantic to the end. Then, too, it has its 
fertile nooks, its beautiful and invaluable stretches of grassy uplands, which 
here and there are set in grandest forests, and its scores of crystal lakes and 
rivers alive with gamy and delicious trout. 

The Deer Lodge mineral springs are among the most noted of those now 
utilized in Montana, and are so well improved, so delightfully situated and so 
well handled by the skillful physicians in charge — Doctors Mitchell and ]\[us- 
sigbrod — that they are rapidly attaining more than local celebrity. They are 
located in Deer Lodge Valley, 18 miles above the village of the same name. 
River, valley and county take their title from the unique geyser cone which 
marks the location of the springs. The cone, which is well represented in an 
accompanying illustration, is about 30 feet high, some 50 in diameter at the 
base, and contains a large warm spring at its apex. The Indians named it 
" Deer Lodge " because of its resemblance to a wigwam, with the steam rising 
fi'om it like smoke from their council fires, and because in those days of the long 
ago the valley was filled with deer which often congregated in great numbers in 
the immediate vicinity. There is, moreover, an amusing Indian legend con- 
nected with this elevated spring. The pyramid in which it boils so incessantly 
is said to have sprung up in a single night. A dusky maiden had two lovers 
who here fought a duel. The wrong one was thrown to the bottom of the 
cavity ; the wild maid sent an appeal to the Great Spirit for a mound to cover 
her lover, and the first dawn revealed this pyramid, through which all the lariats 
of the tribe tied in one fail to reach the bottom of the surging waters. Grouped 
closely about the mound are some 40 other springs, ranging in temperature from 
115° to 150°, and whose medicated waters consist principally of iron, soda and 
iodine. A few yards below are the hotel and bath-houses and an asylum for 
the Territorial insane. The improvements have cost some $16,000, and embrace 
such essentials as comfortable bath-rooms, dressing-rooms and a nicely fur- 
nished little home for those who wish treatment. The waters have proved 
especially efficacious in the cure of not only rheumatic and blood diseases but 
also of mental disorders. There is splendid trout fishing within stone's throw, 
excellent hunting for large or small game in all directions, and the environs are 
composed of lovely, fertile valleys and pictui'esque mountain ranges. A large 
two-story brick hotel is one of the promised improvements of the near future. 

From Helena one can go north, south, east or west and find new and rare 
attractions at every step. The western boundary of Lewis and Clark county, in 
which Helena is situated, is the divide of the main range of the Rocky Moun- 
tains; the eastern is the Missouri river. From the highest peak to the level of 
the river the difference of altitude must be fully 5,000 feet, and the scenery in- 
cludes all the varieties of the rugged grandeur of the great rocky barriers and 
peaceful vales that smile among the lowlands. There are no forests in the val- 
leys, but the mountains are almost gloomy with the dark-browed firs and dense 
growth of pine. 



182 TO THE ROCKIES AISTD BEYOND. 

Prickly Pear Cailon. — Eighteen miles north of Helena the Benton stage road 
enters one of Montana's most noted canons — that of Little Prickly Pear river. 
Like most other caiions, the chief beauty of this one is its towering walls, over- 
looking a dashing mountain torrent whose course is often as crooked as a ser- 
pent's trail. Added to grand abruptness of cloud-piercing walls I found much 
quiet — almost indescribable — beauty in Prickly Pear Canon during the hazy 
autumn days. Foliage is plentiful in every cleft of the rocks and on every inch 
of soil intervening between palisade and river, and never was autumn coloring 
more brilliant. The shades of carmine and orange, of pink and russet, mingling 
with the emerald of the pine, spruce and cedar, form bouquets more beautiful 
than are ever gathered. The rock-work, often rising from 500 to 1,000 feet 
above, is a slate formation whose coloring alone is beautiful at any season. It 
deepens from a dull gray to a deep purple, and the masses which have been 
ground to powder under our feet sometimes look like beds of rich brown and 
purple ochre. It cost |50,000 to build eighteen miles of wagon road through 
this canon, and the popular prices for tolls in early days were from five to ten 
dollars per team each way. Half way through is a beautiful, park-like opening 
of several thousand acres, where a gentleman named Fergus has one of the finest 
ranches in the country. Mountain walls fence in his splendid farm on all sides, 
and ward off outer winds in a most accommodating manner. 

WONDERS OF THE UPPER MISSOURI. 

In the heart of Montana, four thousand miles from the sea, the Missouri 
river presents such distinctive features of wildness, grandeur and beauty as are 
hardly dreamed of by those who witness its murky and treacherous meanderings 
through the prairie states. I refer especially to the 100- mile stretch of the 
upper river, taking in tlie most notable canons, the Great Falls, and the vast 
meadowy mesas bordering the stream after its exit from the mountains. Eigh- 
teen miles north of Helena the traveler, in his journey down the river, is sud- 
denly confronted by a lofty spur of the Rockies, which at first view seems to 
admit of no passage of the mighty stream. Proceeding a few hundred yards 
farther, however, he finds the current making an abrupt turn, and in an instant 
he has passed within the portals of the ' ' Gate of the Mountains, ' " a gash rival- 
ing the grandeur of Yellowstone Canon, and far exceeding in beauty the finest 
portion of the Hudson Highlands. The whole volume of the river is here for 
five miles confined to an average width of less than 300 feet, the mountain walls 
on either side rising perpendicularly for much of the distance over 1,000 feet, 
and in one or two instances leaning far out over the channel. The upper Mis- 
souri, generally so extremely swift, is here as placid as the surface of our most 
sheltered lakes, constituting an eternal mirror for the overlooking heights, and 
for the beautiful pines which spring from every crevice. The water is from ten 
to twenty feet deep throughout the canon. The admirable view presented on 
another page will give the reader a good idea of the entrance. Art has yet for 
the first time to depict the glories of the inner caiion. 

The grayish granite walls are turreted and pinnacled in a wonderfully 
striking manner, and rising so high above their water-washed foundations, with 
only a dainty arc of heaven's blue visible, fill one with emotions of awe and in- 
voluntary dread, akin to those which possessed the first voyagers of the dark 
river in the Mammoth Cave. Entrances to giant caves, never to be reached ex- 



184 TO THE EOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

cept by means of ropes flung- over giddy heights, are seen at numerous points. 
Occasionally blue sky is seen through eyelets carved in the highest towers. 
These heights are only homes for eagles and mountain sheep. The echoes they 
give forth make the human voice sound sepulchral, or the discharge of a rifle 
almost deafening. Large springs occasionally burst from the I'ocks, and mingle 
their waters with the great river. An occasional alcove, where a few graceful 
bunches of willows have scant foothold and shade the stream, tones down the 
picture to one of rarest beauty. t 

For three miles there is scarcely a single foothold at the water's edge for 
man or beast. The few natural fissures which do break these almost solid walls 
are jammed with huge broken pillars, angular rocks, and gigantic slabs of 
granite, forming natural bridges from brink to brink. But a little over half 
way down, and on the east side of the canon, an immense gash is found, ex- 
tending back half a mile from the water's edge into the mountains, and ter- 
minating in a frowning precipice. The unbroken rocky ramparts which crown 
it on three sides of course render it impassable from above. Ducks and geese 
are plentiful along this shaded retreat, and the translucent water is full of trout, 
grayling, garfish and suckers. The cove just described abounds in luscious wild 
raspberries, service beiTies and currants. 

Ten miles farther down is Atlantic Oaiion, also a gash of great attraction. At 
the lower end of this, and overlooking the river, is that strangely formed and 
noted northern landmark, the "Bear's Tooth." Its rocky tusks are plainly 
visible at Helena, twenty-five miles away, and from that or any other pomt of 
view its name seems quite apropos. It rises 2,500 feet above the river. Deep 
serrations in the gigantic mass of rock composing it rise from base to summit, 
foretelling some tremendous slides in the near future. One section of the 
"Tooth," weighing thousands of tons, became detached last spring, thundered 
down the mountain through the heavy foi-ost which surrounds the base of the 
tooth proper, and cut a broad roadway, smooth and clean, which looked as if 
the sickle of a Titan had just completed a very heavy contract. Trees, boulders 
and underbrush were instantly hurled in shapeless masses to the river 2,500 feet 
below. 

Some forty miles lower down the river, in the vicinity of the " Long Pool," 
which is a sluggish, lake-like widening of the stream, is the locality in which 
nearly all the explorers have heard the singular noises which sound like dis- 
charges of artillery, and which the savages for more than a century have called 
" The Mysterious Thunder." Roberts says: "The sound was exactly like the 
booming of a cannon some miles distant, ' ' and Lewis and Clark declared that 
it "consists of one stroke only or of five or six discharges in quick succession. It 
is loud and resembles precisely the sound of a six-pound piece of ordnance at a 
distance of three miles." The sound is generally accounted for in these days by 
a popular belief in the existence of geysers in some hidden recess in the moun- 
tains. " 

One hundred miles from Helena are the first of the Missouri River Falls. The 
" Great Muddy " — here as clear as- crystal — is now making its way through and 
over the last mountain barriers which separate it from the outer plains. My 
approach to the different falls was over a grand plateau, whose general elevation 
is more than 500 feet above the river, and whose surface is one broad, grassy 



186 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

meadow, dotted with numerous lakes. The principal falls, four in number, are 
scattered along for a distance of twelve miles, and the river may oe said to be in 
a canon for the entire distance, as all final approaches are made down almost 
vertical banks of from 200 to 500 feet in height. The first is known as 
the Black Eagle Falls. It is a vertical plunge of the entire river of twenty-six 
feet. Here in mid-river is the island upon which that antiquated Rocky Moun- 
tain eagle, now a subject of history, is passing away the golden days of a ripe 
old age in one eternal Fourth of July. The bird is minutely described by Lewis 
and Clark as the sole inhabitant of the island in 1805. The same one is noticed, 
only slightly crippled by age, by General Reynolds, who was on the spot in I860; 
and then again by Engineer Roberts, who reports his pinions as badly dilapi- 
dated in 1872. Reynolds and Roberts both gave it as their solemn belief that 
this is the identical island, nest and bird first described by Lewis and Clark 
nearly seventy- five years ago. The gritty old sentinel looked old enough to our 
party to have participated in the affair at Bunker Hill. 

The river is now one constant succession of rapids, whirlpools and falls for a 
dozen miles, having a total descent perpendicularly of nearly 400 feet in that 
distance. A short distance below the first falls is a mammoth spring, believed 
to be the largest in America, if not in the world. It boils up from between 
great fissures in the rock near the river into which it soon falls with a cascade of 
eight feet. Its volume is equal to that of an ordinary mountain stream 300 
feet wide and two feet deep. The water is of a sufficiently bluish color to be 
traced down the Missouri for half a mile. 

Four miles below the first are the Rainbow Falls, fifty feet in perpendicular 
descent. They are indeed the most beautiful falls I have ever seen, excepting 
Niagara alone. The entire river, 1,200 feet wide, here hurls itself over an 
unbroken rocky rim, as regular in its outline as a work of art, into a vast rock- 
bound amphitheatre, where the terrific commotion of the water is something 
awful to witness. 

The Great Falls.— Six miles farther down are the "Great Falls," whose 
descent is ninety feet, and whose tremendous roar is often heard a dozen miles 
away. The river, here possessing a volume three times greater than that of the 
Ohio, is narrowed to 300 yards and passes between perpendicular cliffs some 200 
feet high. Nearly half the stream next to the right bank descends vertically 
with such terrific force as to send continuous and always beautiful clouds of 
spray 200 feet in air. These gorgeous columns are often dissipated into a 
thousand fantastic shapes by coming into contact vdth glittering masses of 
snow-white foam, the whole under the radiance of the sun being enhanced to 
beauty indescribable by the richest colors of the rainbow. The balance of the 
river is precipitated over successive ledges of from ten to twenty feet, forming a 
magnificent prospect of fleecy foam 200 yards in breadth and 90 feet in perpen- 
dicular elevation. A vast basin of surging, foaming waters succeed below, their 
deep green color and fearful commotion betraying a prodigious volume and 
depth. Hastily making our way down the precipitous ledges to the very edge 
of the great pool, we were lost in wonder and admiration — a feeling which, 
when in the lapse of hours it did give way, was succeeded by one which resulted 
in our landing some splendid trout from more quiet eddies a short distance 
below. Occasional clumps of pine and cedar among broad, rocky dikes near 
the river add much to the general picturesqueness below the falls. Beaver, 



MONTANA TElilUTORY. 187 

mink and other fur-bearing animals are plentiful among the spray-dashed rocks, 
and we found splendid antelope hunting within rifle-shot of the river. 

At night we camped on a grassy bench 500 feet above, and commanding a 
glorious view of falls, I'apids and river. The night grew very dark and stormy, 
and just before seeking my blankets I stepped to the brink and enjoyed a long 
la>t look at such a scene as language or brush can never paint. Black as was 
the night and deep and narrow the cauon, that broad field of spotless foam cast 
a wonderfully weii'd light over the rushing waters — a light which, while it 
fasumated and seemingly bridged the fearful abyss at my feet, yet filled me with 
a dread undefined. 

A drive from Helena to the "Gate of the Mountains " and return is an easy 
achievement between sun and sun. To visit the Falls, parties should either start 
with a light camping outfit from Helena, or take the Fort Benton stage to Sun 
River Crossing, 85 miles, and there procui-e team and necessary equipage. A 
party of four can make the trip from Helena to the Falls and return in either 
way in a week, having the finest fishing and hunting in the world en route, at a 
total expense of from $35 to $45 each — even less than the lower figui'e if they 
are economically inclined. 

Hell Gate Cnllon and White Sulphur Springs. — An exceedingly interesting 
ti-ip is that eastward from Helena to White Sulphur Springs, Meagher county. 
You board a fine " Concord " coach (manufactured complete in Helena) at four 
A.M., rattle across the finest natural road in the world and make the entire 
journey of seventy-five miles in time for a luxurious bath and a tip-top supper. 
Your general direction is eastward, first across a twenty-mile stretch of the 
pretty Prickly Pear Valley, in which a prominent engineer has told us there 
are 96,000 acres of arable lands, then by easy grades over a romantic, timber- 
clad, spur of the Belt range to the noble Missouri, and on past alternate mining 
enterprises and almost untouched pasture and farm lands, to Smith River 
Valley, near the center of which these fountains are located. 

Twenty miles east of Helena is the most wonderful defile I have seen in 
the Rocky Mountain country. It rests here near the well- beaten stage road 
in comparative obscurity, even with such a thrilling and suggestive title as 
"Hell Gate Canon." Approaching it from below through a narrow valley 
we ate suddenly confronted by what at first view seems an unbroken perpen- 
dicular reef or wall of rock rising some 350 feet above our pathway. What in 
the distance seemed a natural gap or pass in the rugged mountain range now 
pi'csents the aspect of a mighty fortification stretched from summit to summit 
across the anticipated opening for a distance of 600 feet. But whence the brave 
little stream which with its song of victory dashes past us from that barrier 
toward the river, and whither the smooth, solid roadway which makes so con- 
fidently for the seemingly impenetrable stronghold? A quick turn in the road 
reveals a narrow opening to the right, when a second wall rises squarely toward 
the skies and gives for an instant little hope for further progress. But turning 
short to the left and advancing between the towering parallel dykes of solid 
rock some twenty paces, we are led to breathe more easily by finding this 
immense and wonderfully symmetrical reef rent from base to summit, the great 
mountain on either side being thus separated by a patch of Heaven's blue only 
six feet wide. From this gate we emerge into a beautiful grotto thirty yards 
wide, extending right and left to the tops of the mountains and bounded oppo- 



188 TO THE ROCKIES AN"!) BEYOND. 

site the entrance by a rock formation almost identical m appearance with the 
one we have just passed. The dwarf pine, wild rose and other graceful shrub- 
bery are now found in profusion to tone down the rugged surroundings, while 
here and there throughout the grotto are giant eruptions of granite which 
resemble church spires, turrets, or whatever fancy may dictate. Passing through 
the third gate, whose walls are also only six feet apart and from 300 to 400 feet 
high, we find at the left the "Devil's Slide" of Weber Canon, Union Pacific 
Railroad, duplicated on a tremendously large scale. The slide is about 1,000 
feet long up the mountain side, is enclosed by walls 200 feet high and as straight 
as the side of a house, and terminates at the top in a precipice of 200 feet. We 
climbed to this and found quite a cave in which wild animals have taken refuge. 
Beyond the fourth gate the grandeur abruptly terminates in a wooded gulch. 

High up in the right-hand wall at the first entrance is the "Devil's Watch 
Tower," a cave with a bleak, dismal looking opening, which leads no one knows 
where, but which residents have claimed, was in early days the abiding place of 
a genuine Rocky Mountain hermit. The outline of a gigantic human head 
ornaments one of the gates on the right. The road m passing through the 
gates crosses substantial bridges, while the creek makes its exit underneath. 
The wild and wonderful gash was many years ago the loop-hole for savage 
wanderers who dashed to and fro through these mountain ranges, and one of the 
walls here bears curious hieroglyphics left by them. 

The road from the Canon to White Sulphur Springs lies first over a dozen 
miles of bench-lands flanking the Missouri Valley, where the shining river, in 
the midst of meadow and willow, presents a beautiful picture all the way; then 
for another dozen miles through that golden corridor. Confederate Gulch, and on 
over a picturesque range into Smith River Valley, m whose upper portion, in a 
delightfully picturesque region, these springs are located. Coming more to the 
point, the little settlement of White Sulphur Springs is located within stone's 
throw of the north fork of Smith river and about seventy-five miles east of 
Helena. Beautiful meadows and verdure-clad slopes stretch ofif for a dozen miles 
in nearly all directions and finally lose themselves in pine-decked spurs of sur- 
rounding mountain ranges. The springs proper consist of some fifteen large 
sulphur-scented fountains, the waters ranging in temperature from cold to 126°, 
and, springing almost from the same basins, a few with waters cold and pure as 
those which dash from the mountains above. Basins, channels and baths of sul- 
plur waters are coated with great fl kes of sulphur, which, when dried and ig- 
nited, burns very freely. These are classed "saline sulphur waters," of which 
Prof. Watson, an eminent authority on such matters, has much to say that is 
favorable. They are especially applicable to the cure of rheumatism and the 
long train of diseases led by or intimately associated with dyspepsia, gout, liver 
complaints and impurities of the blood. Patients suffering with such disorders 
often seem to derive about as much benefit from drinking the waters iis from 
bathing in them. As high as 120 grains of medicated matter are found to the 
gallon of water. Among the improvements are a large, new two-story hotel, in 
which Brussels carpets and nice soft beds are leading features, reception and 
dining halls, billiard hall, extensive stables, several cottages for guests, two large 
plunge baths, a number of tub baths, etc. The water is conveyed through pipes 
from the springs to the several bath-houses, and is so arranged that any desired 
temperature can be had. Some neatly-furnished sleeping- rooms have baths at- 



190 TO THE ROCKIES AM) BEYOND. 

tached, and are so arranged that invalids can be treated with care, and without 
exposure. Dr. William Parberry, the owner and resident physician, possesses a 
wide reputation as a successful practitioner. The cost of living is as reasonable 
as in other parts of the country, and, indeed, the place is a home in the true 
sense of the term. Half a dozen trout streams flow near by, and hunting within 
half a day's drive is very good. 

The Flathead Lake Region. — I have already alluded to the beauties of Bitter 
Root Valley scenery, and must add that northwestern Montana is crowded with 
superb views, and that the mountain ranges are there more rugged than in the 
sections thus far described. Flathead Lake is perhaps the most interesting feat- 
ure here. It is some twenty-eight miles in length, has an average width of ten 
miles, and is embosomed in one of the loveliest and most fertile countries that 
the imagination can well picture. Stretched across its center, like a cluster of 
emeralds, is a chain of beautiful wooded islands, and upon its clear, broad sur- 
face wild water-fowl of every description, even to the sea-gulls, disport them 
selves. Shaded on two sides by towering cliffs, its other extremities he among 
peaceful meadows, and lave sloping shores of rare beauty. Around the foot of 
the lake, and amid the most dehghtful scenes, is grouped a Flathead Indian set- 
tlement, where snug houses, well fenced fields, lowing herds and waving grain 
give evidence of the rapid advance of those natives in the ways of civilization 
and thrift. Here it is that the Pend d'Oreille River takes its rise, rushing and 
leaping through narrow gorges, and again widening out into a broad and placid 
stream, winding through lovely valleys for hundreds of miles, when )t falls into 
the Pend d'Oreille Lake, a sheet of water larger than the Flathead Lake. Flat- 
head Lake is about 100 miles from the village of Missoula by a good wagon road. 

Near St. Ignatius Mission, distant some forty miles from Flathead Lake, 
are the "Two Sisters," a pair of cascades, for a description of which I gladly 
draw upon the notes of the lamented and eloquent General Meagher: "Topping 
a low range of naked hills, we had a sight which made the plastic heart of the 
writer dilate and beat and bound and burn with rapture. Beyond there, wall- 
ing up the horizon, were the Rocky Mountains, rearing themselves abruptly 
from the plains and valleys — no foothills, no great stretches of forest, to detract 
from the magnificent stature with which they rose and displayed themselves 
unequivocally, with their bold and broken crests, with their deep and olack 
recesses, with their borders of white cloud in all their massiveness and stern, 
cold majesty, in the purple light of a midsummer evening, the calmness and 
the glory of which were in full consonance with the dumb, gigantic features of 
the scene. Right opposite, leaping and thundering down the wall of a vast 
amphitheatre that had been scooped out of the mountains, was a torrent, 
bounding into the chasm from a height of fully two thousand feet, but looking 
as though it were a bank of snow lodged in some deep groove, so utterly void of 
hfe and voice did it appear in the mute distance. A mass of trees blocked the 
bottom of the amphitheatre ; and foUowmg the torrent which escaped from it 
after that leap of two thousand feet, thousands and tens of thousands of trees 
seamed the valley with a dark-green belt, all over which the hot sun played in 
infinite reflections and a haze of splendor. The path to this chasm lies through 
a dense wood, the beautiful and slender trees in which are closely knitted 
together with shrubs and briers and snake-like vines; while vast quantities of 
dead timber and immense rocks, slippery with moss and trickling streams thin 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 191 

and bright as silver threads, encumber the ground, and render it difficult and 
sore to travel. There are few tracks there of wild animals, and all traces of the 
human foot are blotted out, so rarely is that solitude visited even by the Indian. 

"As we neared the foot of the Elizabeth Cascade — for such was the name 
given to the headlong torrent — great was our surprise to find another torrent 
equally precipitous, but still more beautifully fashioned, bounding from the 
edge of the opposite wall; and as a jutting rock, sceptred with two green trees 
of exquisite shape and foliage, dispersed its volume, the torrent spread itself 
into a broad sheet of delicate foam and spray, white and soft, and as full of 
light and lustre as the finest lace-work the harvest-moon could weave upon 
calm waters. This cascade is completely hid from view until one stands close 
under it, and the Fathers of the Mission, strange to say, knew nothing of it 
until our explorers told them exultingly of their discovery. To this they gave 
the name of the Alice Cascade, christening them both The Two Sisters.'' 

In closing these scattering notes on a topic which I realize, only too well, 
should be treated by readier and more able pens, I should not forget that quiet 
and deserving resort, the Helena Hot Springs, four miles from Helena, The 
springs referred to are very hot, affording a luxurious bath, and their water is 
an excellent tonic when taken internally. Soda and sulphur are predominating 
constituents of the hot springs, while a large, cold iron spring bursts out near 
by. The hotel and bathing accommodations are fair, and the drive is an ex- 
tremely pleasant one. The spot is naturally very attractive. It must come in 
for a large share of attention in the golden age of Montana- when the iron horse, 
now so rapiilly approaching from the south, is finally ushered upon the scene. 
Among other re.sorts worthy of mention are the Clancy and Pipestone Springs of 
Jefferson county, and Lund's Hot Springs of Gallatin county, each having fair 
hotel accommodations, and being convenient to excellent trout streams and 
hunting grounds. Patients have gone to these with chronic cases, believed 
to be hopeless, of neuralgia, paralysis, dyspepsia, inflammatory or mercurial 
rheumatism, or other complaints for which the Arkansas springs are considered 
a specific, and, after a few months of bathing and drinking, have left completely 
restored. 

HUNTING AND FISHING. 

It is almost needless to write concerning the game fields of Montana. The 
finest hunting and fishing in the world is afforded in every nook and corner 
and sometimes within easy walk of leading towns. During the past winter 
several of my friends at Helena were often out after deer, and in the course of a 
day's hunt would kill from two to half a dozen each, almost within sight of the 
city. Buffalo, elk, deer, antelope, mountain sheep, bear, moose, and mountain 
lion, are all found in great plenty in certain haunts, while deer alone are 
common everywhere. Such fur-beanng animals as the beaver, otter, mink, fox, 
muskrat, marten, fisher, and wolf, are taken by the thousand, for, be it remem- 
bered, that Montana and the neighboring British Possessions are now furnishing 
a very large pioportion of the furs which reach the prominent marts of the East. 
In corroboration of this it might be mentioned that the fur shipments from Fort 
Benton have i cached the value of over $5,000,000, that the trade often runs up 
to half a million dollars per year, and that 60,000 buffalo robes, with thousands 
of other skins, were shipped down the Missouri in 1878 After hunting in nearly 



192 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

every Rocky Mountain state and territory I can say that 1 have enjoyed some of 
my very best antelope hunting withm a day's ride of Helena. Rivers and lakes, 
nowhere else so numerous, are covered with geese, ducks, and other water-fowl. 
Of other small game I noticed as especially plentiful, prairie chickens, grouse, 
sage-hens, and rabbits. 

As for trout, Montana waters are simply alive with them. During some 3,000 
miles of travel in the Territory at different seasons I cannot say that 1 ever 
halted two nights where I could not catch a nice mess in an hour. They are so 
plentiful in different lakes and streams that they are caught by the wagon load 
for market. The real delicate gamy mountain trout, weighing from half a 
pound to two pounds, and the salmon trout, affording just about as much sport 
and as fine eating, weighing from two to ten pounds, are often found ready to 
respond to fly or bait in the same waters. Then there are other varieties of fish 
in some of the streams, although none are so numerous as the trout. Among 
these are the grayling, garfish, sucker, catfish, and pike. In brief, the angler 
or huntsman cannot go amiss in Montana, and it would be superfluous for any 
one to advise a particular locality in the Territory as possessing advantages over 
others in this respect. 

BUSINESS, PRODUCTIONS, COST OF HOMES, ETC. 

The productions and annual business of this small and scattered population 
is something difficult of comprehension to those accustomed to the measured 
tread of "down east" communities. The population is not more than 35,000, 
while the productions for 1878, of minerals, agricultural products, manufactured 
articles, etc., are reliably stated at $10,500,000 — or over $450 for even/ man, 
woman and child in the Territonj. The business of the Territory has doubled in 
the last ten years, and the population has increased 12,000 since 187G. The 
total assessed valuation of property in the Territory is $13, 59-4, 579. 45, a net 
increase of $2,605,039 since 1876. Following is a table showing the assessed 
valuation of each county in Montana in 1877 and 1878. The figures are cer- 
tainly eloquent: 

Increase 
Counties. 1878. 1877. over 1877. 

Beaver Head. $986,651 00 $843. 182 00 $143,596 00 

Ohoteau ....... 596.642 00 545,850 00 50,792 00 

Custer 329,231 02 236.435 00 92.796 02 

Deer Lodge ,.. 2,341.268 00 1.946. (44 00 395.224 00 

Gallatin , . . . . 1.3S0.340 00 1, 190.060 00 196.280 00 

Jefferson 755 633 15 ()64.90l 00 90.762 15 

Lewis and Clark 2.h92.9;i5 00 2 787.540 00 105.395 00 

Madison l,79ii,662 00 1.632 010 00 159,652 00 

Meagher 867,998 28 761.08100 105,917 38 

Missoula 647.189 00 586,774 00 60,418 00 

Totals $12,594,579 45 $11,193 874 00 $1,400,704 55 

Freight and expressage amounting to about $1,000,000 was paid here during 
the past year on imports and exports. One firm at Helena pays as high as $80,000 
annually as freightage on its goods. There are now 2,500 wagons, 8,500 animals 
and 1,400 men employed in the freighting business in the Territory, and the total 
capital invested in the different lines is not less than $1,500,000. The capacity 



MONTANA TERRITOKY. 193 

of these trains is 5,000 tons, or 500 car-loads at one loading. The imports via 
the Union Pacific Railroad in 1878 foot up 7,000 tons; exports, 8,000 tons. Im- 
ports via the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers in 1878, 11,000 tons; exports via 
the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, 1,800 tons. Beef cattle exported via the 
Union Pacific Railroad and on foot, 4,000 tons. Total imports by rail and river, 
18,000 tons; total exports, 8,800 tons. Among the imports are 3,500,000 pounds 
of salt from the Idaho salt mines, and among the exports are 60,000 buffalo 
robes, 1,000,000 pounds of wool, 6,350,000 pounds of silver and copper ore, 
75,000 pounds of pure silver, and 22,000 head of cattle. The banks of Montana 
paid $63,000 in express charges on gold and silver bullion shipped out in 1878, 
and the weight of express matter brought into the Territory was 500,000 
pounds. 

The annual expense of governing the Territory, we are informed, is less than 
$45,000, an amount which Montana has more than repaid each year. All the 
remaining territories and most of the states are on the other side of the ledger. 
Montana, although younger than any of the other territories, has paid a total of 
$782,394.68 into the internal revenue fund of the government, while Arizona 
has contributed but $187,329.56; Dakota, $108,976; Wyoming, $112,655.09, 
and Utah, with a population four times as great, has in twenty-eight years paid 
a total of $100,000 less than Montana in fourteen years. In 1878 the federal 
government received returns from Montana to the amount of $66,018.74, divided 
as follows: Internal revenue collections, $27,344.47; land office receipts at 
Helena and Bozeman, $29,404.27; taxes from national banks, $6,100. Thus far 
over 10,000,000 acres of land have been surveyed in the Territory. The Helena 
and Bozeman land offices in 1878 received $30,000 as fees on lands purchased or 
entered under the different acts, and the total number of acres represented by 
these fees was 75,000 — a largely increased business over the preceding year. 
Note the following table of exports and imports, internal revenue collections, 
and population for each of the past three years, as an evidence of Montana's 
thrift: 

Estimated Assessed Int. Rev. Imports Exports 

Population. Valuation. Collections. in pounds. in pounds. 

1876 23.000 $9,939,540 $20,982.80 25,000,000 4.000,000 

1877 28.000 11,193.874 20,729.58 32.000,000 19,000,000 

1878 35,000 12,594,579 27,364.87 37,000,000 27,000,000 

One never hears the cry of hard times emanating from Montana business 
men. Business obituaries are rarely written. Only one failure of any magni- 
tude has occurred in the Territory for years, and the commercial rating of Mon- 
tana business houses is higher than that of any state or territory. Business is 
generally done on a cash basis. Individual firms at Helena have sales of mer- 
chandise as high as $500,000 each per annum, and located in that little city of 
only 5,000 inhabitants, the First National Bank cares for an average of $1,000,- 
000 in deposits, and reports a cash business of $28,000,000 in 1878. The latter's 
net profits in 1878 were $40,000 on a paid-up capital of $.100,000. There were 
forty steamboat arrivals at Fort Benton last season, and thirty-four at Miles' 
City, on the Yellowstone. A fleet ot twenty boats, costing altogether over 
$500,000, and employing 500 men, are engaged in navigating Montana waters. 

Few men are so poor that they cannot obtain a good home in Montana; otiU, 
the emigrant of to-day will find his share of difficulties to encounter. Hard work 
13 



194 TO THE ROCKIES AXD BEYOND. 

and careful management for the first few years ate indispensable. Occasionally, 
grasshoppers may gather some of his grain, or early frost nip the more tender 
vegetables. It may not be advisable for those advanced in years, or those who 
are comfortably settled in old and well established communities, to incur the 
hazards incident to a removal to a new country. And it should be further 
understood that the wholly destitute will encounter at first greater hardships 
here than those they seek to escape. Above all things, a man of family should 
have enough ready money to support his people until he can raise a crop. He 
will have plenty of time to make enough to pay for his land if he occupies gov- 
ernment domain. Of course, homestead and preemption laws apply to govern- 
ment lands here as elsewhere. The homestead law grants settlers 160 acres, on 
condition of continued residence for five years, and the payment of land office 
fees, which altogether do not exceed $18. Preemption laws grant settlers 160 
acres at $1.25 per acte on condition of a continued residence and improvement 
for one year. The timbe*' culture act permits a citizen to enter 160 acres on 
condition that one-fourth of the area shall be planted to trees, cultivated and 
protected for eight years. Under the operation of these laws, any settler can 
become possessed of from 240 to 320 acres of land at a trifling cost. Special 
privileges are granted honorably discharged soldiers, they being allowed to 
deduct each year of their service not exceeding four years, from the period of 
residence required of others to perfect a homestead title. The desert land act 
appUes especially to regions like Montana, and permits any settler to take up 
640 acres of lands which could not be cultivated wilhout artificial moisture. A 
cash payment of twenty-five cents per acre is required at the time of entry; irri- 
gating ditches must be constructed to cover such tracts within three years, and 
at any time during that period the claimant can make his title good by paying 
$1 additional per acre, and making proof that the land has been reclaimed by 
irrigation . 

Fencing and building material being abundant in nearly all localities, the 
mattei of making improvements is one of less difficulty than m almost any 
country 1 know of. Nearly all residents first built good comfortable log houses 
at almost no expense but their own labor, and the same can be done to-day. 
This also applies to fencing. Improved farms in the best settled valleys often 
sell quite cheaply — at from $12 to $15 per acre — for the very evident reason 
that there are thousands of locations open to homestead or preemption where 
the owners can make the same improvements for that amount of money or less. 
Exceptionally fine locations and first-class improvements of course run the price 
of some farms up to $40 per acre. Stockmen often do not own a foot of land, 
generally staying about where they please, as long as they please — in such a 
boundless field occasionally moving to pastures new. 

Knowing that he can here establish himself comfortably at a trifling outlay, 
the settler may also like to learn that through humane exemption laws a home- 
stead of the value of $2,500 is free from sale and execution. There are also 
opportunities for trusty men without means to rent farms or take stock on shares, 
the provisions of such contracts always being more liberal than in the East. 

Where several come in one family or colony, it is the best plan to send some 
of the male members two or three months in advance of the party, who may 
look around sufficiently to secure a good location, and when the land is located, 
put up the necessary improvements for the shelter of the rest when they shall 



MONTANA TEUKITORY. 195 

arrive. To those who design emigrating in an organized body, including repre- 
sentatives of all the avocations and industries of a full-fledged community, 
Montana off'ers special inducements. She includes in her vast extent of surface 
hundreds of valleys, separated from each other by mountains or, more often, by 
high, rolling, grass-covered hills or plateaux, where free pasturage in' profusion 
for years to come will hold out extra inducements for stock growing. Entire 
valleys of unsurpassed richness and beauty are still to be found without a ten- 
ant, while in every considerable river valley abound numerous natural basins, 
adapted to colonies of any size from tens to hundreds. Here can such colonies 
surround themselves with all the institutions and conveniences of their former 
homes, giving old, familiar names to new and grander features of nature, 
and lay the foundation of fortune in health and wealth for themselves and pos- 
terity. The increased security, contentment, and stimulus to exertion that at- 
tend such schemes of colonization, particularly recommend them to those who 
think of coming to Montana. 

Emigrants, tourists and health seekers, one and all, are reminded that upon 
reaching Montana they will find just one item necessary — money. It is useless 
for any one to load himself down with the common necessaries of life, and 
transport them to such a region as Montana. Outfitting houses of every nature, 
with such immense stocks of goods as are rarely found in cities of 20,000 inhab- 
itants in the east, are found in all the leading towns. The shipments made by 
these firms are so large and judiciously handled that no individual can afford to 
bring articles of ordinary use from distant states. 

The Territory affords fine opportunities for business men of eitheir large or 
moderate means, who will be content with profits ranging from 15 to 35 per cent 
interest on capital invested. Money is rarely loaned on any kind of collateral 
at less than 2 per cent per month interest — the rate ranging from Ij^ to 3 per 
cent. Capital, directed by sagacity and enterprise, possesses great advantages 
in Montana, as elsewhere ; indeed, the new avenues being continually opened 
by the rapid development of a bountiful new country multiply the opportunities 
for its profitable employment. There is scarcely a reputable vocation of any 
kind, wherein the same capital and good management which insures success m 
eastern communi*'ies, will not yield far greater returns here. Now, above all 
other periods, is the time to invest money in real estate, mines or live stock, as 
the early coming of the railroad will enhance the value of such property to a 
degree not now possible to comprehend. 

Great and undoubted as are the advantages which a union of money and 
industry possesses, there is no country where unaided muscle, with a plucky 
purpose and economy, Will reap such a reward as in Montana. By reference to 
the table of wages given below, it will be seen that salaried people have a vast 
advantage in the west, where their wages are from 50 to 200 per cent higher 
than in the east. Young men who will labor, and not insist in hanging around 
the cities, can make and save — while keeping themselves comfortably and re- 
spectably clad — from $250 to $400 each per year. Mechanics, of course, can 
largely increase this sum : 



196 TO THE llOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

AYEUAGK "WAGES IN THE EAST AND IN MONTANA. 

Employment. In the East. 

Bakers, per month iiml board !?25 00 

Blacksmiths, per day 2 50 

Bookkeepers, per month 70 00 

Bricklayers, per day 3 50 

Butchers, per month and board '4 00 

Brickmakers, " " 20 00 

■Carpenters, per day 2 50 

First Cook, per month and board CO 00 

Second Cook, " " 30 00 

Cooks in families, " " 11 00 

Chambermaids, " " 10 00 

•Clerks, per month 50 00 

Dressmakers, per month 25 00 

Dairymen, per month and board 25 00 

Engineers in mills, per day 2 00 

Farm hards, per month and board 1.*) 00 

Harness-makers, per day 2 00 

Hostlers, per month and board 15 00 

Laundresses, " " 12 00 

Laborers, " " 15 00 

Lumbermen, " " 28 00 

Machmists, per day 3 75 

Mmers, " 2 25 

Millers, per month and board 25 00 

Millwrights, per day 2 50 

Painters, per day 2 25 

Printers, per week 15 00 

Plasterers, per day 2 50 

School Teachers, per month 30 00 

Servants, per month and board . . 1 1 00 

Shepherds, " " 

Stone Masons, per day 3 00 

Teamsters, per month and board 18 00 

Waiters, " " IG 00 

Montana has never, like some other western sections, been flooded with 
labor. The cause is very apparent in its distance from the railroad, and the 
consequent expense and trouble necessarily incurred in getting there. The 
industrious carpenter, cook or machinist, as seen from the above, gels higher 
wajT^es in Montana towns than the confidential bookkeeper of a representative 
<!astorn business house; while the farm hand, laborer or herder, who scorns to 
work more than ten hours per day, commands more pay than the reliable, 
skilled workman in any eastern state. 

Board at first-class hotels in the principal cities is from |2.50 to $3.50 per 
day for transient custom, or from f 13 to $18 per week. Smaller and very com- 
fortable houses have rates varying from $7 to $10 per week. Cottages of four or 
five rooms rent in Helena or Butte at from $35 to $35 per month; at nearly all 
•other points for considerably less. Building material, at retail, averages about 
as follows, at all points: Rough lumber, $30 to $35 per thousand feet; dressed 
and matched flooring, $40 to $45; dressed finishing lumber, $40; lath, $7 per 
thousand feet; shingles, $4.50; good four panel doors, from $3.50 to $5 each, 
according to size and finish; common sash, glazed and primed, $3 to $4.50 
each; blinds, $3 to $4.50; brick, $10 per thousand at the yards, or $18 in the 



In Montana. 


$65 00 


4 50 


125 00 


6 50 


50 00 


50 00 


4 50 


110 01) 


55 00 


35 OJ 


30 00 


90 00 


70 00 


45 00 


3 50 


43 50 


4 50 


45 00 


35 00 


35 00 


55 00 


4 50 


3 50 


65 00 


4 50 


4 00 


25 00 


5 50 


80 00 


35 00 


40 00 


6 00 


45 00 


55 00 



a 

o 

o 

o 

>> 
!;« 
O 

d 

H 

a 




108 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

wall; lime, 60 cents per bushel. Building hardware same as in Ohio or Illmois, 
with about four cents per pound added for freight. It is safe to estimate the 
average expense of living at twenty per cent higher than east ot the Missouri. 

Good two-horse teams can be bought in any of the agricultural districts at 
from 1150 to $225; team of two mules, $200 to $300; oxen per yoke, $80 to $100; 
saddle horses, $50 to $75; saddle ponies, $25 to $40; pack horses, $35 to $50; 
livery rates are for double team and carriage, $9 to $13 per day; horse and 
buggy, $6 to $8; saddle horse. $2 to $3; the latter can be hired by the week or 
month at from 50 cents to $1.50 per day. 

ROUTES AND HATES. 

There is but one all-the-year i-oute to Montana, and that possesses vast 
advantages over all others at ani/ season. It is via the Union Pacific Railroad 
from Omaha to Ogden, 1,032 miles, time two days; thence via the Utah & 
Northern Railroad to Eagle Rock Station, Idaho, 213 miles, time ten hours, and 
thence lo Virginia, Helena, Butte, Deer Lodge and other central points in Mon- 
tana, via the Gilmer and Salisbury stage lines, the distance to these averaging 
about 275 miles and consuming from 3G to 72 hours. Fare from Omaha to either 
of the points named, first class, $100; second class, $75; emigrant, $45. Through 
fare from New York city, via Om.dia and the Union Pacific, is — first class, $139; 
second class, $121.25; emigrant, $63.50; from Chicago — first class, $116; second, 
$103; emigrant, $58; from St. Louis — first class, $115; second, $103; emigrant, 
$55.50. Holders of second class and emigrant tickets, via- Gilmer, Salisbury & 
Go's line, will both be carried from the railway terminus to destination in 
covered mail wagons. One hundred pounds of baggage carried free by rail; 
forty pounds free by stage, on first class; fifty pounds free by wagon on second 
class and emigrant; extra baggage on stage and wagon lines, fifteen cents per 
pound. Stages and wagons run daily. 

It is needless to enlarge upon the splendid equipment, the steel track and the 
lavish attention offered tourists on the great overland route —the Union Pacific. 
At the head of all American railways in everything pertdining to excellence of 
management, it gives the Montana-bound traveler a start on this northern 
journey which he must always remember with feelings of extreme pleasure. The 
Utah & Northern — the longest and finest narrow gauge railway west of the 
Rockies — in close connection with the large and comfortable Concord coaches of 
the Gilmer and Salisbury Line, is enabled to render the completion of the .journey 
as pleasant and speedy as could be expected or desired. Fair eating stations 
along the stage line, the telegraph always at hand, many vistas of beautiful 
scenery, some of the best mineral and atrricultural districts in the West, and an 
opportunity of seeing almost the entire breadth of Montana, are among the 
advantages offered hy this route exclusirely. 

Splendidly equipped stage lines run from the principal cities to all points of 
the Territory, the fares averaging about 15 cents per mile. Telegraphic rates 
from Helena to points east of the Missouri River $2.50 for ten words. Meals 
at eating stations on stage lines from 75 cents to $1. 

MONTANA SOCIETY. 
Arriving in Montana, the new comer will have many preconceived notion? 
concerning society, schools and religious privileges happily dissipated. No people 
read more than these, and few communities are as lavish in their expenditures 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 199 

to secure the best class of religious, educational and beneficent institutions. The 
report of the United States Commissioner of Education shows that only six states, 
and none of the territories, excel Montana in the amount of money raised per 
capita for educational purposes. There are in the Territory eighty-five public 
school -houses, costing nearly $100,000, and these are supplemented by an ex- 
cellent college and several sectarian institutions, offering the usual advantages 
for instruction in the higher branches. All religious denominations are repre- 
sented, their churches, twenty-six in number, costing a total of $125,000. 
Secret and benevolent societies and libraries are found in all the cities and 
mining camps. The Masonic and Odd-Fellows' societies have erected several 
fine temples, which cost from $20,000 to 85,000 each. A high order of 
intelligence and an unstinted hospitality are reigning attributes of a majority 
of those who have cast their fortunes in this singularly beautiful, rich and pros- 
perous domain. 

Cities and Towns. — Helena is situated in the southern part of Lewis and 
Clarke county, 15 miles west of the Missouri and 290 miles north of the Utah & 
Northern terminus. Its population is about 5,000, and we find it a compact and 
splendidly built little city, with a taxable wealth of $2,000,000. Fine and capa- 
cious blocks line the business streets, while elegant and tasty residences, amid 
beautiful lawns and flower-gardens, adorn the hillsides overlooking. There are 
numerous and very creditable churches, schools, libraries, a well organized board 
of trade. United States assay oflSce, Masonic and Odd-Fellows' halls, good hotels, 
an asylum and hospital, and two of the best daily and weekly newspapers pub- 
lished in the far-west states or territories. The latter are the Herald and Inde- 
■pendent. The Masonic Temple cost $45,000; public school, $20,000; assay office, 
with improvements now in progress, $60,000; Roman Catholic church, $18,000; 
Methodist Episcopal church, $10,000; court-house and jail, $35,000, and many 
residences cost from $5,000 to $15,000 each. Two banks cared for an aggregate 
of $1,000,000 average deposits in 1878. They sold exchange to the amount ot 
$3,500,000, bought $600,000 worth of gold dust and shipped over $1,000,000 
worth of silver bullion. The First National, by the way, is an exceptional insti- 
tution of its kind. Its cash business frequently runs up to $200,000 per day, 
and averages $75,000 per day the year through, or a total business in twelve 
months of nearly $28,000,000! It paid $23,000 express charges on its gold and 
silver bullion shipments in 1878. Helena's grocery trade in 1878 amounted to 
$1,125,000. Two firms exhibit sales of $250,000 each, and eight firms a grand 
aggregate of $1,000,000. Two hotels, "Cosmopolitan" and "International," 
registered 12,000 guests in 1878, and a number of smaller houses probably as 
many more. The Helena postoffice transacted money-order business to the 
amount of $425,000 in 1878. Over 8,000 orders were issued, and 1,500 paid. 
The two newspapers have a capital of some $40,000 invested, and do a business 
of $100,000 annually. One firm imports 1,000,000 cigars and, sad but true, 8,000 
dozen bottles of beer. Nine daily and tri-weekly stage lines gather here the travel 
and trade of a region twice as large as the Empire State. The men and animals 
thus employed are counted by hundreds and the miles of road traversed run up 
in the thousands. 

Datto City — the second in size and the most important mining center in 
Montana — is located near the southern edge of Deer Lodge county, 250 miles 
north of the Utah & Northern terminus; population, 3,000; altitude, 5,800 feet. 



200 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

Its broad streets are lined with solid business blocks and tasty residences — all a 
growth of about three years. The greatest silver and copper mines of the Ter- 
ritoiy are located within sight of town — indeed, many run under the streets, 
over 3,000 quartz mines have been located in the immediate vicinity. A dozen 
mills and arastras are constantly busy crushing the rich silver ores. Among 
these the Alice mill costing some $250,000, the Lexington, $40,000, and the 
Dexter, $90,000, are models of their kind. The total yield of the Butte mines 
in 1878 is placed at over $1,000,000, and the ore shipped east for treatment 
aggregates nearly 3,000,000 pounds. Butte has good churches, schools and an 
excellent newspaper — the Miner — which is about to be issued daily, instead of 
weekly, as formerly. Its numerous busy quartz mills, smelters, foundries and 
planing mills, and great mining activity, together with its extensive building 
operations, render it one of the liveliest and most thrifty cities in the Rockies. 
Fifteen fine brick fire-proof business blocks were erected here in 1878. 

Deer Lodge City, county seat of the county of the same name, is beautifully 
located on the east bank of Deer Lodge River, and is distant from the Utah & 
Northern winter terminus about 280 miles. It contains 700 inhabitants, is tastily 
built, and is a general supply and distributing point for all the fertile valleys 
and mining districts for forty miles around. It is the educational center of the 
Territory, containing a public school of exceptionally high grade — the Montana 
Collegiate Institute — and a Roman Catholic boarding school undercharge of 
the Sisters of Charity. The Collegiate Institute building, a fine specimen of 
architecture, has just been completed and furnished with the most approved 
apparatus at a cost of $22,000. Among other public buildings are a fine court- 
house, three or four very neat little churches and the Territorial penitentiary — 
the latter, we are happy to say, not of necessity being very commodious, but 
first-class so far as it goes. 

There are two good hotels, whose arrivals in 1878 footed up over 15,000, 
which would indicate a large travel to and through the town. The Neir North- 
west, a large weekly newspaper, ably edited and published here by Capt. J. H. 
Mills, is one in which every Montanian takes a personal pride. The sales of 
stamps at the Deer Lodge postotRce aggregate nearly $2,000 per year; letters 
mailed and received about 80,000 per year; money orders sold, $30,000 per year. 
Some 500 different periodicals are regularly received, to saj' nothing of the tons 
ot books and other printed matter which arrives annually. The daily stage and 
telegraph connect Deer Lodge with the railroad. Among other towns in the 
county are Butte, with 3,000 population; Philipsburg, 500; Pioneer, New Chicago, 
Blackfoot, Lincoln, McClellan and Silver Bow. Philipsburg boasts a $2,000 
school-house, and several fine mills and a silver cornet band. 

Virginia City, the county seat of Madison county, and the commercial center 
of southern Montana, is located in Alder Gulch, 228 miles north of the Utah & 
Northern terminus. It contains a population of 1,000 inhabitants, and has 
telegraph and daily stages to different tributary points. The principal banking 
institution sold exchange to the amount of $1,400,000 in 1878, bought $400,000 
worth of gold dust and bars, and had average deposits of $100,000. Over 
$75,000 were paid on Union Pacific Railroad freights here last summer. Post- 
office money orders were sold in 1878 to the amount of $30,000. Virginia City 
is also noted for the value and excellence of its public improvements. It has a 
$35,000 court-house, a $30,000 Masonic temple, $12,000 public school house,. 



MONTANA TERRITORY. 201 

good Episcopal, Methodibt and Catholic churclie-!. Tlie moderate altitude — 
5,713 feet — and genial clime are proven by pretty flower, fruit and vegetable 
gardens which ornament some of the homes. Virginia has a good newspaper, 
the Week-hj Madisoman. 

Bozeman, the county seat of Gallatin county, is beautifully located near 
the base of Bridger Mountain, Gallatin Valley. The mountains, rising 
abruptly 4,000 feet above the valley, abound in wild £\nd romantic gorges 
through which the clearest streams, carrying beauty and fertility to valley 
lands below, are always rushing. The place contains a population of 900. The 
broad, level streets are lined with good, substantial business blocks, whde on 
outer avenues are found some of the most elegant and costly residences in the 
Territory. Bozeman boasts water-works, two good hotels, planing mill, flouring 
mill, an $18,000 public school building, an $8,000 church, as well as a less pre- 
tentious one. A Masonic hall, a court-house costing $33,000 about to be built, 
a private banking institution, the Avant Courier, a live weekly newspaper, and 
a United States land office, are among other noteworthy institutions of this 
bright and flourishing town. Indicating the business done here, we may men- 
tion that the two principal hotels registered 14,000 guests in 1878, that nearly 
2,000,000 pounds of merchandise were brought hither the same year, and that 
the money-order business of the postoffice foots up $50,000 per year. Bozeman 
has telegraphic communication with the railroad, and daily stages to Helena, 
110 miles distant, as well as to the railroad, via Virginia City, 330 miles distant. 
It is also a prominent outfitting point for Yellowstone Park, the nearest border 
of which is only 75 miles away. Among the many attractions near Bozeman is 
Mystic Lake, 14 miles; Lund's Hot Springs, 8; Rock Caiion, 5; Bridger Canon, 
3; Bear Canon and Lakes, G; Hunter's Hot Sulphur Springs on the Yellowstone, 
47; Middle Creek Falls and Canon, 15, and Mount Blackmore, 30 miles. 

Missoula, county seat of Miseoula county, prettily located in Missoula Valley, 
300 miles northwest of the Utah & Northern terminus, population 800; Fort 
Benton, Montana's river metropolis, at the head of navigation on the Missouri, 
population GOO; Miles City, on the Yellowstone, in eastern Montana, population 
800; and Radersburg, Bannack, Gallatin, Glendale and Diamond City are 
among other towns which figure prominently in the Territory's history and 
present prosperity. 



CHAPTEIl Yir. 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 

Now that iron rails and Pullman cars to the borders of our American won- 
derland — nay, the ivorkVs wonderland — are among the early possibilities, 
renewed attention is attracted to that enchanting corner of our domain. It is 
hard for any one who has not stood spell-bound in the presence of those almost 
supernatural wonders, the geysers, or paused enchanted at the heights overlook- 
ing Yellowstone Lake, to realize that here, within the bounds of a few ordinary- 
townships, are attractions which are not duplicated in the known world ; or that 
every variety of phenomenon here so vastly exceeds anything of its kind else- 
where that comparisons are almost ridiculous, and that the time is near at hand 



202 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

when it will be the great central resort for the lovers of the grand, the beautiful 
and the sublime in nature from all parts of the inhabited universe. 

Why, only think of it! the mammoth springs of Gardiner River, with their 
wonderful architectural beauty and the healing virtue of their waters, far out- 
rival any similar resorts in America or Europe. The lovely cascade of Tower 
Creek is not equaled by Minnehaha; while the Great Falls of the Yellowstone, 
with their symmetrical proportions, containing " all the elements of picturesque 
beauty," and so intimately connected with all the strangely-fascinating enchant- 
ments of the delicately-carved and gorgeously-crowned Grand Canon, excel in 
sublimity the world-known Niagara, or the soul- inspiring Yosemite. As a 
friend, who is given to "cold figures " an':l poetry at the same tuue, says: "The 
height of Niagara Falls — 1G4 feet — is 226 feet less than our beautiful falls of the 
National Park. The sheet at Niagara is 1,100 feet in breadth, while that of the 
Yellowstone is less than 200. The discordant roar of Niagara is liquid music at 
Yellowstone; the majesty of the former is poetry at the latter. The waters 
which dash over Niagara flow through a level and monotonous region, and have 
a weary, business-like appearance; while the Yellowstone, gliding through a 
region sublime in scenery and associations everywhere, falls into the grandest 
cailun of the world. The former are 300 feet above sea level, the latter 8,000! 
The great suspension bridge is but 258 feet above the water; a like bridge across 
this grand canon would rise two thousand feet above the little stream." The 
view from Mount Washburn, or one of the glistening glaciers farther to the 
south, is equal to any of the Alpine views, which have inspired poets and stirred 
the souls of orators and artists in portraying their grandeur and beauty; while a 
visit to the cuarming solitudes along the pebbly strand of the crystal waters of 
Y^ellowstone Lake, with its emerald isles and weird surroundings, will cause every 
other like scene to fade into insignificance. Ot this Hayden says: "Such a vision 
is worth a lifetime, and only one of such marvelous beauty will ever greet human 
eyes. ' ' With a shore lino of 300 miles and an extent and depth sufficient to float 
the navies of the universe, its altitude is yet so great that if Mount Washington, 
the pride of all New England, should be placed at the foot of Yellowstone Lake, 
v/ith its base at sea level, the sparkling waters of this mountain sea would roll 
tivo thousand feet ahore its summit. 

Then what can we compare with the almost supernatural wonders of the 
Upper Geyser Basin, once the center of fierce volcanoes and powerful forces, 
where yet the earth is made to quake and tremble from the internal concussions 
and rumblings, as the stupendous volumes of steam and water are hurled 
upward from the superheated regions below. Rev. Edwin Stanley, a recent 
visitor, in summing this up in his well-written "Rambles in Wonderland," 
declares " that no such cluster of wonders is exhibited elsewhere m the world. 
Let us imagine ourselves for once standing in a central position, where we can 
see every geyser in the basin. It is an extra occasion, and they are all out on 
parade, and all playing at once. There is good Old Faithful, always ready for 
her part, doing her best — the two-by-five feet column playing to a height of 150 
feet — perfect in all the elements of geyser- action. Yonder the Beehive is send- 
ing up its graceful column 200 ieet heavenward, while the Giantess is just m 
the humor, and is -making a gorgeous display of its, say, ten-feet volume to an 
altitude of 250 feet. In the meantime the old Castle answers the summons, 
and, putting on its strength with alarming detonations, is belching forth a 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 203 

gigantic volume 70 feet above its crater; while over there, just above the saw- 
mii!, which is rallying all its force to the exhibition, rustling about and spurt- 
ing upward its six-inch jet with as much self-importance as if it were the only 
geyser in the basin, we see the Grand, by a more than oidmary effort, over- 
topping all the rest with its heaven-ascending, graceful volume, 300 feet in the 
air. Just below here the Riverside, the Comet, the complicated and fascinating 
Fantail, and the curiously-wrought Grotto, are all chiming in, and the grand 
old Chant, the chief of the basin, not to be left behind, or by any one outdone, 
is towering up with its six-feet fountain, swaying in the bright sunlight at an 
elevation of 250 feet. In the meantime a hundred others of lesser note, we 
will say, are answering the call at this grand exposition, and coming oyt in all 
their native glory and surpassing beauty. Just listen to the terrible, awful 
rumblings and deafening thunders, as if the very earth would be moved from 
its foundation — the thousand reports of rushing waters and hissing steam, 
while Pluto is mustering all his forces, and Hades would feign disgorge itself 
and submerge our world. But then look upward at the immense masses of ris- 
ing steam ascending higher and still higher, until lost in the heavens above; 
while every column is tinseled over with a robe of silver decked with all the 
pri'^niatic colors, and every majestic fountain is encircled with a halo of gor- 
geous hues." 

" This whole region," says Dr. Hayden, the United States geologist, " was, 
in comparatively modern geological times, the scene of the most wonderful vol- 
canic activity of any portion of our country. The hot springs and geysers rep- 
resent the last stages — the vents or escape pipes — of these remarkable vol- 
canic manifestations of the internal forces. All these springs are adorned with 
decorations more beautiful than human art ever conceived, and which have 
required thousands of years for the cunning hand of Nature to form." "It is 
probable," he remarks elsewhere, " that during the Pliocene period, the entire 
country, drained by the sources of the Yellowstone and the Colorado, was the 
scene of volcanic activity as great as that of any portion of the globe. It might 
be called one vast crater, made up of a thousand smaller volcanic vents and 
fissures, out of which the fluid interior of the earth, fragments of rock and vol- 
canic dust, were poured in unlimited quantities. Hundreds of the nuclei or 
cones of these vents are now remaining, some of them rising to a height of 
10,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea." 

The Yellowstone Park embraces an area of fifty-five by sixty-five miles, and 
contains the most striking of all the mountains, gorges, falls, rivers and lakes 
in the whole Yellowstone region. The hot springs on Gardiner's River, for 
example, are along its northern boundary; the Grand Canon lies toward its 
northeastern corner; toward its southeastern corner stretches Yellowstone Lake, 
and occupying the western central portion is the wonderful Gcyserland. 

The Geysers. — Entering the park by the Virginia City wagon-road, the vis- 
itor first encounters the geysers. These rival the most famous of Iceland, and 
deserve detailed description. The explorer. Lieutenant Barlow, tells us that 
near the edge of the basin, where the river makes a sharp bend to the south- 
east, IS found the initial geyser — a small stream vent — on the right. Soon on 
either side of the river are seen the two lively geysers called the "Sentinels," 
because of their nearness to the gate of the great geyser basins. The one on 
the left IS in constant agitation, the waters revolving horizontally with great 



204 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

violence, and occasionally spouting upward to the height of 20 feet, the later.i 
direction being 50 feet. Enormous masses of steam are ejected. The crater cf 
this is 3 feet by 10. The opposite sentinel is not so constantly active, and is 
smaller. About 250 yards from the gate are three geysers acting in concert 
When in fall action the display from these is very fine. The -waters spread cut 




FAN GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK. 
m the shape of a fan, in consequence of which they have been named the Fan 
Geysers. One hundred yards farther up the side of the stream is found a double 
geyser, a stream from one of its orifices playing to the height of 80 or 90 feet, 
emitting large volumes of steam. From the formation of its crater it was named 
the Well (xeyser. 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 



205 



Still above are found some of the most interesting and beautiful geysers of 
the whole basin. First are two smaller geysers near a large spring of blue 
water, while a few yards beyond are seen the walls and arches of the Grotto. 
This is an exceedingly intricate formation 8 feet in height and 90 in circum • 
ference. It is by many called the gem of all the geysers. It is absolutely mag- 
nificent — a sight of resplend 'nt beauty that greets the eyes nowhere outside of 

the reyion of t!ie National Park. It is simply a 
miniature temple of alabaster whiteness, with 
arches leading to some interior Holy of Holies, 
whose sacred places may never be profaned by eye 
or foot. The hard calcareous formation about it 
is smooth, and bright as a clean swept pavement. 
Several columns of purest white rise to a height 
of 8 to 10 feet, supporting a roof that covers the 
entire vent, forming fantastic arches and en- 
trances, out of which the water is ejected during 
an eruption 50 or 60 feet. The entire surface is 
composed of the most delicate bead- work imag- 
inable, white as the driven snow, massive but 
elaborately elegant, and so peerlessly beautiful 
that the hand of desecration has not been laid 
upon it, and it stands without flaw or break in 
all its primal beauty — a grotto of pearls, "the 
beautiful princess of all the realm." 

Proceeding 150 yards farther, and passing two 

hot springs, a remarkable group of geysers is 

discovered. One of these has a huge crater 5 feet 

in diameter, shaped something like the base of a 

horn — one side broken down — the highest point 

being 15 feet above the mound on which it stands. 

This proved to be a tremendous geyser, which has 

been called the Giant. It throws a column of 

water the size of the opening to the measured 

altitude of 130 feet, and continues 

the display for an hour and a half. 

The amount of water discharged 

isimmense, almost equal in quantity 

to that in the river, the volume 

of which during the eruption is 

doubled. But one eruption of this 

geyser was observed. Another large 

crater close by has several orifices, 

and with ten small jets surroundmg 

it, formed probably one connecting 

system. The hill built up by this 

group covers an acre of ground, 

and is 30 feet in height. 

Harry J. Norton, Esq., formerly 
6IANT GEYSER, YELLOWSTONE PARK. of Virginia City, made the rounds 





206 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOXD. 

of all the geysers, and describes the leading ones as follows: " In our opinion, 
there is no geyser in the entire region that is so richly deserving of mention 
as our ancient-looking, steadfast friend, Old Faithful; for its operations are as 
regular as clock-work, of most frequent occurrence, and of great power. Stand- 
ing sentinel-like on the upper outskirts of the valley, at regular intervals of 
67 moments, the grim old vidette sounds forth his 'all's well ' in a column of 
water five or six feet in diameter, throwing it skyward to a distance of 150 feet, 
and holding it up to that height for eight or ten minutes' duration. The stream 
is nearly vertical, and in descending the water forms a glittering shower of 
pearl-drops, plashing into a succession of porcelain-lined reservoirs of every con- 
ceivable shape and many-colored tints. The mound is not far from 20 feet in 
height, and gradually slopes down to the south in regular terraces to a 
neighboring hot spring. One of the artistic reservoirs nearest the crater is 
half filled with irregularly shaped, perfectly polished white pebbles, which 
must have been thrown out at the different eraptions. When the eruption 
ceases the water recedes, and nothing is heard but the occasional escape of 
steam until another exhibition occurs. Old Faithful will ever be the favorite of 
tourists, as it never fails in regularly giving a display of its powers. 

' ' Crossing the i-iver, and proceeding down its east bank an eighth of a mile, 
is the Beehive. In the middle of the afternoon an eruption took place without 
a moment's warning. The column of water ejected filled the full size of the 
crater, and was shot up fully 200 feet. So nearly vertical does the stream ascend 
that on a calm day nine-tenths of the volume would fall directly back into the 
aperture. From this cause, probably, there is no mound of any consequence 
built around it. At the time we witnessed its action, the ascending torrent was 
interposed between us and a bright, shining sun, and through its cloud of spray 
there formed a rainbow of magnificent proportions, lending the fountain a 
crowning splendor and glory that it could not otherwise possess. 

"To the right, and down stream a few hundred yards from the Beehive, 
is the Giantess, with a crater 18 by 25 feet. We came upon it during one 
of its lucid intervals, and looking down into the gaping chasm could just dis- 
cern the water a great distance below, as in a state of apparent tranquillity. 
Presently, however, there came up from its gloomy depths a dismal groan, 
quickly followed by a dense volume of steam and a rumbling sound beneath our 
feet, as of terrific underground thunder. In a moment more the seething ele- 
ments below were in Avildest commotion. The rolling and clashing of waves, 
the dread, terrible steam-clouds to and fro under the frail crust, the thunder of 
the raging waters as, lashed into fury by the pursuing steam, they sought to 
burst apart their prison wall and escape, — all were but too distinctly heard and 
felt. Spell-bound we stood, and with enraptured awe silently awaited the 
result of this terrible confusion. Spasm succeeded spasm; the agitated flood 
boiled up to the surface of the crater, and with a deafening report the immense 
body of water was hurled into the air over a hundred feet. Like some gigantic 
fountain impelled by an engine power that could have revolved a world, the boil- 
ing jet continued to play for several minutes. Sun-ounding this majestic liquid 
dome is a circle of smaller jets issuing from the same crater, but from lesser 
apertures below, giving the main column the appearance of a fountain within 
a fountain. Playing hither and thither in the mellow sun-lit mist, miniature 
rainbows were seen, and the air glistened with the falling water-beads as if a 




Side Canox of the C'oLc.R\r)o. 

Reached via the Union Pacific and Utah &, 
Northern Ratlroaos. 



•208 TO THE KOCKIES AND BEYOND. 

shower of diamonds were being poured from the golden gates of the Eternal 
City. 

" Suddenly, just below us on the opposite bank of the river, a vast column 
of steam burst forth and ascended several hundred feet. On the qui rive for 
new wonders, we hurried over a slight knoll in that direction, and arrived just 
in time to witness the Fan Geyser getting up steam for an eruption. It requires 
more inside machinery to operate this geyser than any of the others. In fact, 
it is a massive natural engine, 25 by 100 feet, with two small valves, two escape 
pipes, and at the extreme upper end a large smoke-stack — five separate and dis- 
tinct craters. When we arrived, we could hear a sound as of cord-wood being 
thrown into a mammoth furnace. This continued several seconds, ceased, and 
was followed by great quantities of steam from the smoke-stack; then the two 
valves opened, shooting out swift, hissing jets of steam. The next moment 
"there would be an unearthly roar from the double crater; both would fill, and 
from each aperture a column of water two feet in diameter shot upward over 
80 feet, one ascending nearly vertical and the other at an angle of about 45 
<legrees, thus forming the ' fan.' The eruption would continue from two to four 
minutes, then the flow cease for eight or ten seconds, and then the entire move- 
ment would be repeated. These repetitions continued for about twenty-five 
minutes, then ceased altogether. It requires no great flight of fancy to see in 
this marvelous natural mechanism a vast engine running under the guidance of 
a ghostly engineer, and being 'stoked' from Pluto's wood-pile by a thousand 
goblin firemen." 

The Hot Springs. — Wonderful hot springs burst out at many different points 
in the Park, but those in the northern portion are most generally admired. The 
springs in active operation on Gardiner's River cover an area of about one square 
mile, and three or four square miles thereabouts are occupied by the remains of 
springs which have ceased to flow. Suiall streams flow down the sides of the 
Snowy Mountain in channels lined with oxide of iron of the most delicate tints 
of red ; others show exquisite shades of yellow, from a deep, bright sulphur to 
a dainty cream color; still others are stained with shades of green — all these 
colors as " briUiant as the brightest aniline dye^," declares one obscrvLT. The 
water, after rising from the spring basin, flows down the sides of the declivity, 
stop by step, from one reservoir to another, at each one of them losing a portion 
of its heat, until it becomes as cool as spring water. The natural basins into 
which these springs flow are from four to six feet in diameter, and from one to 
fo r feet in depth. The principal ones arc located upon terraces midway up the 
sides of the mountain. " The largest living spring is near the outer margin of 
the main terrace. Its dimensions are 20 feet by 40, and its water so perfectly 
transparent that one can look down into the beautiful ultramarine depth to the 
very bottom of the basin. Its sides are ornamented with coral-like forms of 
a great variety of shades, from a pure white to a bright cream-yellow, while the 
blue sky reflected in the transparent water gives an azure tint to the whole 
which surpasses all art." 

Of the springs at the southwestern edge of the lake. Professor Hayden says: 
*' Our second camp was pitched at the Hot Springs, on the southwest arm. This 
position commanded one of the finest views of the lake and its surroundings. 
While the air was still, scarcely a ripple could be seen on the surface, and the 
Taried hues, from the most vivid green shading to ultramarine, presented a picture 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 209 

that would have stirred the enthusiasm of the most fastidious artist. Some- 
times, in the latter portion of the day, a strong wind would arise, arousing this 
calm surface into waves like the sea. Near our camp there is a thick deposit of 
silica, which has been worn by the waves into a bluff wall, twenty-five feet high 
above the water. It must have originally extended far out into the lake. The 
belt of springs at this place is about three miles long and half a mile wide. The 
deposit now can be seen far out in the deeper portions of the lake, and the bub- 
bles that rise to the surface in various places indicate the presence, at the orifice, 
of a hot spring beneath. Some of the funnel-shaped craters extend out so far 
into the lake that the members of our party stood upon the siUcious mound, ex- 
tended the rod into the deeper waters, and caught the trout, and cooked them 
in the boiUng spring, without removing them from the hook. These orifices, or 
chimneys, have no connection with the waters of the lake. The hot fumes com- 
ing up through fissures, extending down toward the interior of the earth, are 
confined within the walls of the orifice, which are mostly circular and beauti- 
fully lined with delicate porcelain." 

Yellowstone Lake. — But the brightest jewel of our wonderful park — Yel- 
lowstone Lake — must no longer pass unnoticed. It is about 20 miles long and 
15 miles broad, with a rough and irregular, but almost enchanting shore line. 
Its superficial area is about 300 square miles, its greatest depth 300 feet, and its 
elevation above the sea 7,427 feet. Lying upon the very crown of the continent, 
Yellowstone Lake receives no tributaries of any considerable size, its clear, cold 
water coming solely from the snows that fall on the lofty mountain ranges that 
hem it in on every side. '" In the early part of the day, when the air is still and 
the bright sunshine falls on its unruffled surface, its bright green color, shading 
to a delicate ultramarine, commands the admiration of every beholder. Later 
in the day, when the mountain winds come down from their icy heights, it puts 
on an a«;pect more in accordance with the fierce wilderness around it. Its shores 
are paved with volcanic rocks, sometimes in masses, sometimes broken and 
worn into pebbles of trachyte, obsidian, chalcedony, cornelians, agates, and bits 
of agatized wood; and again, ground to obsidian sand sprinkled with crystals 
of California diamonds." Of this the enthusiastic Langford says: "Secluded 
amid the loftiest peaks of the Rocky Mountains, possessing strange peculiarities 
of form and beauty, this watery solitude is one of the most attractive objects in 
the world. Its southern shore, indented with long narrow inlets, not unlike the 
frequent fiords of Iceland, bears testimony to the awful upheaval and tremen- 
dous force of the elements which resulted in its erection. The long pine-crowned 
promontories, stretching into it from the base of the hiUs, lend new and charm- 
ing features to an aquatic scene full of novelty and splendor. Islands of emer- 
ald hue dot its surface, and a margin of sparkling sand forms its setting. The 
winds, compressed in their passage through the mountain gorges, lash it into a 
sea as terrible as the fr;'tted ocean, covering it with foam. But now it lay be- 
fore us calm and unr.iffled, save as the gentle wavelets broke in murmurs 
along the shore. Water, one of the grandest elements of scenery, never seemed 
so beautiful before." 

Besides its entrancing shore line the lake is dotted with numerous islands, 

which lend rare beauty by their luxuriant vegetation. Fish abound in the lake, 

game of all kinds inhabit the surrounding forests, and the placid surface of the 

water and grassy margins render this mountain-locked sheet the earthly para- 

U 



'/lO TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

dise for myriads of water-fowl. There are facilities for boating here, and rather 
primitive summer accommodations for the tourist. 

The Grand Cafloii and Falls of the Yellowstone. — It is but a pleasant two- 
hours' ride from the lake to the falls. The head of Yellowstone Caiiou is but a 
short distance above the Upper Falls, and just before reaching them narrows 
down to a close gorge, compressing the water into so small a passage-way that 
they drive through with great commotion. The first fall is only a quarter to a 
half mile above the lower one, and the stream dashes over a perpendicular cliff 
140 feet high. Our nearest view of the Upper Falls, says an eloquent visitor, 
"was from the craggy summit of a projecting point of the mountain which 
forms a portion of the canon wall a half mile below. The view is one which, 
were there no Lower Falls to admire, would be a sufficient attraction to call 
forth abundant enthusiasm from the looker-on. But as one stands gazing at 
them from the rocky height, a mighty and continuous roai'ing of all the fleeing 
tide can be heard directly beneath, challenging the individual attention and 
admiration of the wonder-seeker. 

"The river between these two gi-eat precipices is dashed into a turbulent, 
foamy cascade,' by its ragged bed and lightning speed, and does not again 
become smooth until just the instant it takes its dizzying leap of three hundred 
and ninety feet perpendicularly to its narrow bed in the depths of the great 
canon. On either side of the falls, and so far as the eye can reach below, there 
rises to a height of two thousand feet above the river, a grand, vast wall of 
infinite masonry, so gorgeously colored and tinted, so bounteously beautified in 
gilt, purple and carmine, that no oil-painting, however fine, will ever do justice 
to the natural picture ! There is no painful glare of one color prominent over 
another; the great Artist has used each brush deftly,- and with his divinely 
exquisite touches each tint and shade is so perfectly blended that the mighty 
walls seem as if built by the equal commingling of all the precious metals of 
the world!" 

The view of the Grand Caiion from the heights above, is pronounced by a 
widely known traveler "the finest piece of scenery in the known world," and 
indeed it is hard to conceive of any combination of pictorial splendors which 
could unite more potently the two requisites of majesty and beauty. The 
Grand Caiion is not all poetry, however, as those who have descended into it 
have discovered. It contains a great multitude of hot springs of sulphur, sul- 
phate of copper, alum, etc., and the river, when it is finally reached, after four 
miles of wearisome clambering, is warm and impregnated with a villainous 
• taste of alum and sulphur. Its margin is lined with various chemical springs, 
some depositing craters of calcareous rock, others muddy waters of different 
colors. The explorers have been unfortunate in selecting their point of descent, 
which has been at the northern end of the chasm, for at the southei-n end 
nothing but magnificence is apparent. 

Where Tower Creek ends the Grand Caiion begins. Twenty miles in length, 
it is impassable throughout, and inaccessible at the water's edge, except at a few 
points. Its rugged edges are from two hundred to five hundred yards apart, 
and its depth is so profound that no sound ever reaches the ear from the bottom. 
"The stillness is horrible. Down, down, down, we see the river attenuated to a 
thread, tossing its miniature waves, and dashing, with puny strength, against 
the massive "walls "which imprison it, AU acoess to its margiu i§ denied, and 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 211 

the dark, gray rocks hold it in dismal shadow. Even the voice of its waters in 
their convulsive agony cannot be heard. Uncheered by plant or shrub, ob- 
structed with massive boulders, and by jutting points, it rushes madly on its 
solitary course. The solemn grandeur of the scene surpasses description. The 
sense of danger with which it impresses you is harrowing in the extreme." 



GREAT FALLS OF THE YELLOWSTONE. 

Other aftracfions. — Lest readers may from the foregoing obtain the impression 
that there is little of interest in this region except the phenomenal, I quote the 
following from Mr. William I. Marshall, a gentleman who has repeatedly visited 
it. "Perhaps I was not careful enough to guard my hearers against the 
impression that there is little of interest in that extraordinary portion of our 



212 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

country except the phenomenal. Few, I suppose, would care to live long 
among spouting geysers and boiling springs, or even upon the banks of the 
brilliantly-colored Grand Canon of the Yellowstone ; but these cover only a 
small part, probably not more than two or three per cent of the surface of the 
Park, which embraces 3,578 square miles, or 2,298,920 acres, an area almost 
one-half as large as the state of Massachusetts, and, of course, extensive enough 
to contain an immense variety of scenery. There are scores of miles of beautiful 
valleys traversed by rivers of the purest water, swarming with trout, grayling 
and whitefish, and furnishing the finest hunting-grounds for ducks, geese, 
swans, and other water-fowl. These valleys are generally covered with fine 
grass, on which numerous antelopes pasture, while the greater part of the 
mountains which bound them is covered with the forests (interspersed with 
those great grassy slopes which are so marked a feature of the timbered areas 
of the Rocky Mountains) in which those fond of rifle shooting can find elk and 
black-tailed deer and white-tailed deer and mountain sheep, and occasionally a 
band of mountain buffalo and other large game. There are countless quiet 
nooks where one can camp under the fragrant pines, besides green meadows 
gemmed with lovely wild flowers, and watered by bubbling brooks across which 
the beaver still builds his cunning dam, and beneath whose banks and in whose 
deep pools the dainty little speckled brook-trout watches for his prey. Not only 
are there scores of grand mountains lifting their craggy sides and rugged sum- 
mits (few of which have ever felt the tread of civilized man) far up among the 
clouds, but innumerable sunny glades and shady dells, charming bits of quiet, 
picturesque scenery, where one will see nothing of the striking, but only the 
gently beautiful 

"I presume tne neadquarters for tourists, when the park shall be made a 
little more accessible, will be established on the shores of the lovely Yellowstone 
lake, which, lying at an altitude of 7,778 feet above the sea, or 1,500 higher than 
the summit of Mount Washington, in New Hampshire, covers 300 square miles 
with cool, clear water, which in places is 300 feet deep, and rolls its waves, of as 
deep a blue as the open sea, on 175 miles of shore line, now of loveliest beauty, 
and now of wildest grandeur. With its opportunities for rowing and sailing and 
fishing and hunting, with the grandest of mountains bordering it and the purest 
of air ever sweeping over it, and with the inducements to open-air life offered by 
its surroundings, it is surely destined to become a most delightful summer resort 
for those who love nature, and who, when they wish to see her strangest and 
most wonderful phases, can sail or ride in a few hours to the spouting geysers, 
the boiling springs, the stifling solfataras, the roaring mud volcanoes, the lofty 
cataracts, and the gorgeous canon of the Yellowstone; and when they would 
enjoy her quieter and more subdued aspects can find them on every hand in 
endless profusion. Those who travel to see the triumphs of industry and the 
treasures of art, to behold the ruins of an ancient era or splendor of modern 
cities; those who wish to revive historical associations or to survey the beauty of 
the earth as affected by human effort and connected with human life, will, of 
course, go to the Old World; but there are many, and the number seems to be 
constantly increasing, who, for a longer or shorter time, love yearly to leave 
behind them the bustle of towns and the roar of cities, the vexations of business 
and the conventionalities of society, and live face to face with nature, resting in 
her solitudes or communing with her ceaseless health-giving exjtivities, and to 



YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. 213 

these the endless features of the park will offer varied attractions and constant 
charms." 

Routes and Distances. — The Utah & Northern Railroad is advancing so rap- 
idly in its northward march from the Union Pacific at Ogden, that it will without 
doubt, during the coming summer, reach a point not more than 85 miles from 
the Geysers. First-class stage lines will at once be organized, and so efficiently 
operated that the tourist can step from his car in the morning and take trout 
and tea in sight of " Old Faithful " or the "Grotto " at sunset. During the past 
summer carriage roads have been constructed so that the visitor can easily drive 
from end to end of the Park in two days, taking in attractions at every step. 
Trails or bridle-paths radiate in every direction from Yellowstone lake, and that 
intending visitors may obtain an idea of the points which are easily reached 
within a day, or two days at most, from that central locality, we append the fol- 
lowing table of distances. It has been compiled within the past few months by 
competent authority : ' 

Yellowstone Lake to — Miles. 

Steamboat Springs 8 

Yellowstone Falls and Canon !20 

Mud Volcano and Springs 8 

Madison Falls 18 

Sulphur Mountain 11 

Geysers on Gibbon's Fork 35 

Specimen Creek 40 

Mount Washburne 28 

Upper Geyser Basin 3i ) 

Lower Geyser Basin 85 

Tower Falls 4i) 

Mammoth Springs on Gardiner's River 60 

Agnes Lake 45 

East Geyser Basin 25 

Fairy Falls 45 

Heart Lake 20 

Petrified Forest . . 85 

Falls of Gardiner's River 58 

Anna Lake 45 

Lake Abundance 60 

Virginia City is at present as good a 5 any of the Montana cities as an outfit- 
ting point, and until a wagon road shall have been constructed direct from the 
Utah & Northern terminus into the Park, will remain the only gateway for 
travel from the south. Ponies, wagons, guides, and all paraphernalia necessary 
to the thorough enjoyment of a trip to the "American wonderland," can bo pro- 
cured as cheaply here as at other Rocky Mountain cities, adding cost on freight of 
provisions brought from the railway. The route via Virginia is, in itself, one of 
the most romantic pieces of roadway in all the western country, and is lined 
with good ranches or camping places all the way. At Sawtelle's, Henry's lake, 
a week can be profitably spent, for scenery, fish and game are all at hand to 
invite; and "mine host" Sawtelle is a royal entertainer. Following are dis- 
tances by the Virginia route : 

ViBGiNiA City to— Milks. 

Madison River 14 

Driftwood, or Big Bend of Madison 28 

Henry's Lake 18 

Gibbon's Fork 26 

Upper Geyser Basin 15 * 

Yellowstone Lake 14—115 



APPENDIX TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



LEADTILLE. 

A BRIEF RESUME OF COLORADO'S BONANZA. 

Glancing at any reliable map of the West, you will see located in Lake County, Colorado, 
110 miles south-west of Denver, the name Oro. Leadville, not yet honored with a place in our 
atlases, is only three miles distant, and, until the maps are again revised, modest little Oro must 
serve as a sort of guide-board for its far more pretentious neighbor. Leadville's altitude is 
about 10,200 feet above the sea, and it is not on top of the mountains, or a forbidding spot, by 
any means. A year ago the grandest of forests covered the site, which is on a pretty slope 
leading down from higher ranges to picturesque California Gulch. The view from any of the 
higher streets takes in hundreds of miles of lofty mountains which encircle South and 
Middle Parks. 

Gulch mines were first discovered in California Gulch, near where Leadville now stands, in 
1865, and soon attracted a population of at least 10,000. From $4,000,000 to $0,000,000 in gold 
were taken from gravel deposits; but with the exhaustion of placers the inhabitants drifted 
elsewhere. Minors in that early day found the carbonates that have since proven so rich in sil- 
ver, but, deeming them of no value, cast them aside, and many were the imprecations lieaped 
upon the heavy sand that flllcd the sluice-boxes. In the summer of 187-1, for the lirst time, it 
was thought that this heavy sand contained precious metals. Assays proved that it not only 
contained silver, but was immensely rich. People were slow to believe statements made in re- 
gard to it, and declared samples of the ore a fraud. Although richer mines were found in 1876 
and 1877, it was not until the spring of 187S that any consir\erable excitement was manifest. 
Since that time there has been a constant stream of immigration pouring in, and Leadville, to- 
day, is indisputably the mineral prodigy and wonder of the world. Nothing in mining history 
furnishes a parallel to this last marvelous development in the great carbonate tields of Colora- 
do. The few hundred who found the camp in January, 1878, became a few thousand before 
spring was fairly under way. The city was organized and officials elected; newspapers estab- 
lished — three dailies; banks opened; churches and schools built; hotels erected ; telegraph 
communication established; waterworks commenced; gas companies incorporated; street rail- 
way begun ; and, in short, the mining camp had blossomed forth into a lively city of 20,000 
inhaliitants. 

" What are all these people to do, .and wh<at will be the i-esult of tliis wonderful activity?" 
asks the intelligent reader and disinterested authority answers : "•Why the State of Colorado 
has not yet been ' prospected ' at all, compared with the resources which invite the pick, and 
shovel, and brawn of the '•honest miner." The surface of the ground only, so to speak, has 
been turned, and the <levelopments of the past year show plainly that the wealth untouched so 
far exceeds that which has been brought to the surface as the giant mountain rivals the lilipu- 
tian hill. Necessity must force these men who have the past few mouths flocked into Lead- 
ville. providing nothing else will, to get out of the town and into the hills just as soon as the 
snow melts sufficiently to admit of prospecting. Their substance Is nearly, if not quite, gone, 
and they must shoulder their picks and shovels aiid go out to delve into the mountain sides. 
The country is vast; the mineral deposits numerous. They only await the labor which is now 
here to prove that Colorado is the richest mineral State in the Union, Down on the Gunnison 
new discoveries have been made; Tin-Cui) Creek will be a favorite resort; Taylor Creek will 
secure many prospectors; the Elk Mountains will be alive with miners; the Uncompaghre 
Range teems with this new life. The Sau Juan, unquestionably one of the richest sections of 
the State, will receive a fresh impetus, and railroads through the South Park and new wagon 
thoroughfares will bring here valuable ores nearer a market. 

THE 3nNES. 

Mines have been located by the thousand, and nearly 100 are now paying large divideiids. 
The yield of mines in this vicinity for the past tliree years— $90,000 in lS7e, $695,300 in 1877, and 
$2,818,000 in 1878 — will give readers an idea of the rapidity of development in this industry. 
Leadville's production of silver for 1879, estimating from the present daily yield, will, it is be- 
lieved, exceed $12,000,000— more than that of all Colorado in 1878. Nearly 1,000 tons of ore, 



COLORADO S BONA>ZA. 



215 



averaging $75 in silver per ton, are now being raised daily. Tlie product of Leadville mines, 
during April, lS7n, was placed by good autliority at $60,000 per day or $1,800,000 for the niontli. 
The " silver Ivings " of Nevada have offered $5,000,000 for the " Little Pittsburgh," a Leadville 
mine whicli is declaring net dividends of $300,0(10 per month, in the first stages of development, 
while Stevens & Leiter, of Chicago, tlie owners of the "Iron Mine." have refused $5,000,000 for 
their " find." The "Vulture," worked by only four men, yielded $58,000 during March, 187!!. 
Governor Tabor, of Colorado, and others, from investments of a few hundred dollars at Lead- 
ville a year ago, are millionaires to-day, with an income of $2,000 per day each. 

The ores, carrying silver, lead and a small percentage of gold are usually found at depths 
varying from 25 to 100 feet, in pockets or horizontal beds, these beds being from four to fifty 
feet thick and yielding carbonates worth from $50 to $500 per ton. Ore has been taken from 
these mines yielding $3 in silver to the pound, a single wagon load bringing as high as $6,000. 
The neai-ness of these ores to the surface and their soft, earthy nature, has in a gi-eat degree 
done away with the necessity of blasting or the use of expensive hoisting works. The poor 
miner, with pick, shovel and windlass, has thus in many instances carved out a fortune as easily 
as the earliest gold-diggers were wont to in the richest gulches of Colorado and California. A 
noteworthy fact in connection with these discoveries is that almost every great " strike " — and 
there have been many which have netted their owners from $50,000 to $500,000 within a few 
weeks from the date of discovery — has been made by very poor men. Among tliese parties who 
Mere penniless a few months ago, not a few were " tender feet" — fresh arrivals from the east. 
The present rate of yield iustities an estimate of $20,000,000 as the out put of Leadville mines in 
1879, hut more conservative experts place the figures at from $10,000,000 to $12,000,000. Eight 
or ten smelters are engaged in reducing the ore. 

The following list includes what are generally conceded to be the best paying mines in 
Leadville, together with the average value of the ore per ton, as taken from the books of the 
different smelting works: 



Ounces. , Ounces. 

Iron 200 : Camp Bird 150 

Dv/er 250 I Vulture 100 



Long &. Derry ... 175 
NewDiscoverv .. 160 

Little C;liief . ." 120 

Carbonate 175 

Crescent 1-10 

Carboniferous 100 

Crysolite 100 



Silver Wave 100 

Morning Star 90 

Cyclops 80 

Double Decker ... 75 
Evening Star . . . . 75 

Gone At)r()ad SO 

Pittsburgh 60 



Ounces. 

Little Giant 70 

North Star 70 

Agassiz 75 

Adelaide 80 

Henrietta 50 

Shamrock 70 

Yankee Doodle ... 75 

Catalpa 75 

Kit Carson 60 



Ounces. 

Little Eva 60 

Eaton, small claim 125 

Amie 80 

Climax 90 

Duncan 75 

Winnemuc 100 

Robert Emmet 75 

Pine 50 

Tiger 70 



The Carbonate Belt seems to cover an area of some 300 square miles, so far as yet defined, 
and new discoveries are chronicled almost every day in Ten Mile District, 20 miles from Lead- 
ville, as well as within the limits above mentioned. 

Concerning the permanence of these great dejiosits, there is yet much difference of opinion. 
But one fact is assured. A number of the best mines liave been so thoroughly prospected that 
they are known to have "millions in sight." Among these are the Little Pittsburgh, which sold 
for some $300,000; the Iron, for $2.50,000; the New Discovery, for $162,000; the Little Chief; 
and others. Experts claim that in the belt of ground extending from the west line of the Vul- 
ture to the east line of the "Winnemuc, which includes the' Vulture, New Discoveiy, Little Pitts- 
burgh, Little Chief, and Winnemuc Mines, it would be a safe estimate to say there is fully 
$25,000,000 worth of exposed ore, and this is a mere patch of Leadville. Vulture, Kit Carson, 
Triangle, Carboniferous, and several others, are underlaid by hundreds of acres of a body of ore 
and dirt from one to 40 feet in thickness, which yields from $100 to $150 per ton. and there are 
hundreds of other mines and claims which are paying handsomely, or have good showings for 
the future. 

Items of Trade. — The business and bustle of this mining metropolis is beyond all compre- 
hension. From daylight to dark, and far into the late hours of the night, all is activity and bus- 
iness confusion. The streets are crowded with pedestrians and teams for at least 16 out of the 
24 hours of the day. Chestnut Street resembles the busiest street in the busiest city in the 
world. It is difficult to make one's way along this street, on the side -walk, at any time between 
the hours of 9 a. m. and 12 midnight. The throng is simply Immense, and evei-j' day seems to 
increase it. Many of the leading houses do a business every day of which the best houses in 
Denver might well be proud. There are four banks which, combined, sejl exchange to the 
amount of $400,000 monthly. The 15 markets dispose of $100,000 worth of meats and provisions 
monthly. Over 15,000,000 feet of lumber were manufactured in the heavy forests adjoining the 



216 TO THE ROCKIES AND BEYOND. 

city in 1878, and some 45 mills now In operation in the vicinity will probably double the product 
in 1879. The telegraph office takes in f 3,000 monthly; and 1,300 wagons, each drawn by from 
four to eight head ol horses or mules, are busy hauling supplies from the railroad and ore back. 
It is estimated that, with no increase of population, the sales of merchandise will aggregate 
$5,000,000 this year. 

Real Estate and Revts. — The appreciation in value of Leadville real estate Is almost 
beyond belief and rents of business houses are simply fabulous. Fortunes are made daily in lot 
speculations. The land on Chestnut street ( the principal thoroughfare ) was bought from the 
Government a year ago at $2.50 per acre. A few weeks ago a gentleman bought 75 feet front 
of it for $10,000 and the next day sold 50 feet of it for the same amount. The Grand Hotel, 
built on the same street last fall at a cost of $8,000, was sold in a few months for $14,000, and to- 
day the same property can not be bought for $40,000. Nine lots were lately sold in the suburbs 
for $1,500. Within twenty-four hours the party who bought them was offered $3,000 for his 
bargain. Lots on Chestnut and Harrison streets which sold a year ago at $1 per foot front are 
now eagerly taken at $150 to $200 per foot. 

The Theatre Comique, a one-story frame shell 50x100, rents for the enormous sum of 
$1,700 per month, or over $20,000 per year, and the receipts here run up to $1,200 per night. A 
log house opposite, 25x50 feet, rents for $700 per month. The City Hall Building on Chestnut 
street, by no means an extensive or ornate affair, rents for $7,200 per annum. 

EXPENSES OF LIVING, WAGES, SOCIETY, CHURCHES, ETC. 

The rapid extension of I'ailways and the improvement of wagon roads will reduce prices 
quoted below to quite an extent by autumn, '79: — Flour is from $5 to $6 per cwt. ; potatoes 5 
cents per pound; butter 40 cents; eggs 25 cents per dozen; sugar (white ) 15 cents per pound; 
hams 15 cents; bacon 14 cents; fresh meats from 13 to 25 cents; coal oil 70 cents per gallon; 
syrup $1.50 per gallon; lard 15 cents per pound; fresh milk 20 cents per quart; wood from $4 to 
$6 per load; hay from 5 to 6 cents per pound; oats 6; feed 6; native lumber $40 per thousand; 
shingles from $6 to $8 per thousand; brick $40 per thousand; lime 75 cents per bushel; furnished 
single rooms $5 to $8 per week; hoard $7 to $10 Miners report that they '-bach" in a cabin 
for $4 per week and live well. Washing $2 per dozen — (no Chinamen here) ; doctor's visits, $3; 
saddle horses, per day, $3.50; freights from railroad teruiinus3 to 5 cents per pound; insurance 
is 10 per cent. First class hotels, of which the Clarendon Is probably the very best, charge 
from $3 to $4 per day transient custom, or from $15 to $25 per week for permanent boarders. 
It is difficult to rent dwellings, and small ones of four or five rooms command from $40 to $75 
per month. Clothing is from 25 to 40 per cent higher than at Chicago or St. Louis. 

Emvloyment and VVaqes. — Willing men have thus far easily found employment at Lead- 
ville. Miners get $3 to $4.50 per day carpenters, masons and blacksmiths, from $4 to $5; wood- 
choppers, $3; laborers, $2.50 to $3; barkeepers, $25 per week; waiters, $10 to $12. with board; 
clerks In stores and banks, $60 to $200 per month ; female domestics, $30 to $50. Street teams 
are paid $9 per day. At hauling ore teamsters load fully 4,000 pounds per trip, and their con- 
tracts are so made as to give them $9 to $10 daily gross earnings. Foremen at mines get from 
$100 to $125 per month. Wages at the furnaces are as follows: Furnace men ( keepers ) $3..'>0: 
chargers, $3 to $3.50; suppliers and helpers. $3. The veins already opened, while yieldmg for- 
tunes to their owners, afford employment to large numbers of men. 

Societies^ Churches, and Schools. — Considering Leadville's heterogenous population, the 
good order that prevails is especially noteworthy. The city contains many ladies of cultivation 
and refinement. Five church organizations exist, viz: Baptist, Episcopal. Catholic, Methodist, 
and Presbyterian; the latter three have each a church. The public school building measures 
30x50 feet, and is, of course, like everything at Leadville, "jam full." A private school is 
starting. The Young Men's Christian Association has an organization. The Masons and Odd- 
Fellows have each a lodge. There are two circulating libraries. 

ROUTES, BATES, DISTANCES, ETC. 

As a new stage road from Georgetown is now opened to Leadville. the Union Pacific Rail- 
road offers its travel the choice of two routes: First, from Omaha to Georgetown by rail, time 
36 hours, thence to Leadville by stage, distance 54 miles, time 10 liours; Second, from Omaha to 
Denver, and thence to Como, the terminus of the Denver, South Park & Pacific, by rail, time 
40 hours, thence to Leadville. 50 miles by stage, time 12 hours. Fares from Omaha are: First 
class, $41; emigrant, $34. The Georgetown Road, besides being the shortest, possesses a great 
advantage over any other in that it passess through Silver Plume, Brownville, Bakersville, 
Montezuma, Kokoiiio, Carbonateville, and other rich and rapidly growing camps. Kokomo al- 
^ady boasts a daily paper, a bank, and other accessories of a mining metropolis; while Car- 
bonateville is putting on similar airs. Distances by stage on this route .are as follows : From 

Georgetown to — ,,., .,,, 

° Miles. Miles. 

Silver Plume 2 ' St. Johns 21 

Brown\ille 3 j Kokomo 30 

Bakersville 16 Carbonateville (or Ten Mile) 34 

Montezuma 18 | Leadville 84 




Reduced Far,. I Wew Rail Rout, 1 Quiok..t Time I 

Via Omaha aad jie TJaJon Paciic Eailroad. 



LEADVILLEI 



IVIONXANa! 



CLE Rc£k 










/' '^■*j»„f>*' — N\ 




BLACK HILLS 1 



Take the Great Imerlcao Omlaiil Roun foi SaaFrinci 



KimtALL, •■» wi I Ml IM Omaha, Mak. 



'■J~ 



.S"~ K 



-^ - 



FK-O^M OCElA.3Sr TO OOlBaA*^ IIT T'A.I^A.CTSi OAKSt 

Union Pacific Railroad, its Branchs and Connecting Stage Lines. 

aOfTSX OITI.V FIRrXCT KOTTTX rOI TItAVXI. ROUITS TBX 'V70IIU>I 



UtHikkf, 



1 IMI 



THE BLACK HILLS AND BIO HORN -tit SIdnsy « Black Hllli SUc* Una. 

R^'tlmit. cii'^ni"'' ik:i7LM;!.'^,.i.,iii,',',:*,vir.-'i-N.-''Pii'i;;i'''' 

UTAH. NEVADA, AND ARIZONA -Via Utah Central and Utah SouUwm Railroad*. 

Saiuly, 



Pf«« 



1 CI,, 



Ul>hl 



THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD AND BRANCHES. 



K D T-T 



t- 

a 

a 

K 

< 

o 

> 



w 



<5 
tzi 
ft) 

CO 
H 

> 

w 





Grand CaSon of the Colorado. 
Rbachkd via thk Union Pacific and Utah Southern Railroads. 



^' ^•^ -^ ^^^^^ > ^^ «^'*'^ C c ^ ^ ^^^ 



-^ ^f <;;aC CC c- 



CC^ CC- 
J^XtC^ C_Cv 

'/-• C ' «L C • 

■.Cr ■ CC 

3: V. (-. c C 
■•C«r'c.^c ^tx' 

''C^.;<..C CC 
'Ac>c CC 






:Ccc 
S<( <^ 
CCvC 
CC < 

:c< «, < 
^.<!crc c c- 
<<a<r.c '-.. c 



CC 

CC 

-^ 
cc 

cc- . 

CC 

CC 
CC < 

<:c 
<C « 

CC <«■ 
ce < 



' ^7 CC > 

c-CC CC ^r:^ 

- - ^C_.'=CC ^_:. . , 
_ ■ .< «:<r xc «r . 
^ CC. r<-C^^' «^ 

CC CC ^ (C, 

^jc c c ^: r" 

, <-C CXL <£- 

c :. .xx: CC c <s-, «= 
- 5>^ ■ S ^^ c- 



c c< ^ 



-c c <s. (c 



'«CC -C c. 



^ Cc C^jt' 

. c c<:c. 

.-. <L_ c c<:c- 

-^C C< C^ c^'^ 



<ccCf ■< 

c<saCL 'C 



CC 



5^ ccr^c 



:L g. CCOC CC 
C CC Ca'C CC. 

'> 9; C^C Cc- 
' CC <,.^tr <r 

c c«r/c < 

CC. <.'<<<; < 
CC «: CC < 
■ <: <^ V-. (-7. ;, 



<CiCC<jc 



^crcrcrc 

CCCjC 

CCdC 

^ ^^c:<:< 
=^'.c<SC 

rc^ccc:: 
,^^ccc ^ 

^^■<sc. 



<aC 

^ c ^cgc: « 

f c ccc 
c < <CC ^ 

CC '^^ 



ccc 



f ^ CCC ■ 

S- '- c^c^c ■ 

. >C*^^^«cc o^ ^^\ 

^1^ C«C «" _, . 



c c (L^ CC < <:<' r.-c< ■ c <i:?'C 

'' ' • ^ < cC--<'c.C C (iTvC 

^ <iv:<c c:<!isc : 






<Cii<'tC' <■ <C'C' 
CivCCC C CC. 

CCCC c <Cc 



ccc 



-^^?^ ^ 



< ^ C.CXCC 

-< CCCCCC.^ 
( < c^»3«ltc c: 



cnsi <^ «: 






c C" c 



S CC i 

iV CC ■. <1 ^r . 



cs << < <iQac:< cc 
c Cc c<o:c CC 

<^ < c <c'<:<c CC 

<i^: cccccc 

../ C.aC-t,C C.<L 



<C«'C CC 



^XiC<. c < 

^<cc<:.c 


^C^^ c< 


•A.-*-- *- ^^_C 

<£_*C ^ <L. C <- 

^:i^"c crc < c < 

^c<^c <«:c 

^d-cv c <x 


JCCIC^ 

^ic^ 

^JCA<^ < <i 


Cc CC 
Cc C < 

&■§■ ' 


W^^i C 5 

Cccc< 


:ic^ < ' 
:-Cic < 


fc^'<^ c < ^ 
^C ccc 


CC(. 



C_ «'Crj, 















c c: 















< <-c 

<^ <rcc 

c 






?= ¥&• 



C C -re 



__ <L^ <-< <L c c^ < ..■-, - 












: <c cc c c > ^ 






< r-r. ■ . <- • 



■ c c. 



^^■'C 






f 6: 








' c 


' 


« c 


r 


* c 




■ <; 


C 


■ c 


c 




c 


a 


c 




c 




■ C_; 




<L 




^ C-c. 


' V ; ' 


i-Cs^' 


c c c 


<L<C<: ^ 


< 


c«: ' 








